DWTS Winner’s Sibling Shares Eerie Moment of Déjà Vu

Heavy/Getty The sibling of one of Derek Hough's partners shared a jaw-dropping video on social media recently.

Recently, the brother of a previous “Dancing with the Stars” winner shared a video on social media that had fans buzzing. Both Bindi Irwin and her younger brother, Robert Irwin, have followed in the footsteps of their late father, “The Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin in their love for animals and wildlife conservation. A recent experience Robert had, however, seemed to echo his father’s past experience perhaps a little too closely.

Bindi competed on season 21 of “Dancing with the Stars,” winning the mirror-ball trophy with her partner, Derek Hough. Her brother, mother, and then-boyfriend Chandler Powell were typically in the audience, cheering her on, and the path to winning the season gave “The Crocodile Hunter” fans many opportunities to look back on Steve and the family’s love for wildlife.

Here’s what you need to know:

Bindi Irwin’s Brother Has Followed in Their Father’s Footsteps

During her time on “Dancing with the Stars,” Bindi shared emotional moments related to her love for her father. As “DWTS” fans will remember, Steve died in September 2006 at the age of 44 after an incident with a stingray. He was filming when a stingray barb struck him, and he tragically died hours later. Bindi was only 8 years old at the time, and Robert was just 2. Despite the tragic loss, Bindi, Robert, and their mother, Terri Irwin, have continued to live on the property of the Australia Zoo and pursued lives centered around the work Steve loved.

Bindi has frequently shared her work in the realm of wildlife conservation, and her brother has done the same. In fact, a video he shared on his Instagram page in June was a little too reminiscent of his late father and his passion for risk-taking. “Deja vu. Dad and me getting bitten by the same species of snake (carpet python) decades apart,” Robert detailed in the caption of his post. “I found this python on the side of the road, but as you can see, sometimes snake rescues don’t quite go to plan 😂.” The video showed Steve filming while holding a carpet python that bit him in the face. Then the clip shifted to show Robert in a nearly identical situation. Although he was ultimately fine, the video did show several spots where Robert was bleeding after the rescue moment with the python went awry.

Robert Irwin Received a Lot of Comparisons to His Late Father

While a sudden python bite to the face would likely rattle most people, Robert seemed to take it right in stride, just like his father did. In fact, Robert’s video suggested he was quickly able to laugh it off. His Instagram post generated a big reaction from fans, with more than 460,000 “likes” and over 4,400 comments.

“Robert don’t make me cry!!! You are your dad made over, he’s so proud of you! We all are,” declared one supporter.

“Imagine that python is somehow a distant relative of the one who got your dad too 🤯,” suggested another.

“Like father like son, that positive spirit never stops,” noted someone else.

Another commenter detailed, “I am obsessed with this!! So happy we have you for your father to live on through! You took that wack to the face like a champ, just like your dad!”

While most of the comments were positive ones, where fans focused on the love both Robert and Steve had for wildlife, a few people took a different stance where they were critical of Robert’s risk-taking. Those comments seemed to be outliers, though, as a number of fans noted that carpet pythons are not venomous or particularly dangerous. In addition, quite a few people wrote about how wildlife conservation needs people who are like the Irwins to draw attention to the cause.

Despite a small amount of criticism, most of those who commented on Robert’s post gushed over him, his father, and his family. “You handled it with the same grace and good nature that your dad did… I love your whole family and loved watching your dad so much when I was a kid! You are a part of a very special legacy!”