The Steve Irwin Gala is an unmissable event in the calendar for the close-knit Irwin family. So when Bindi Irwin, husband Chandler and Grace Warrior were no-shows last week, it sparked concern that something might be amiss with the family.
Behind closed doors an insider reveals there’s more to Bindi’s decision not to attend, revealing there may be growing tension between the 26-year-old and her mum Terri, 60, after Bindi bravely told the Irwin family matriarch that she wants to take Grace, three, to finally meet her great grandfather, Bob Irwin Senior.
It’s been 16 years since Bindi last spoke to her grandfather after a bitter family feud left them estranged. Less than two years after his son, the late Steve Irwin, died in 2006, Bob Snr, 85, decided to step away from Australia Zoo.
BINDI’S BITTER RIFT
“I just felt that it was better for everybody concerned if I left Australia Zoo and Judy [Bob’s second wife] and I and all our friends were able to continue Steve’s work the way I believe it should be done,” he said during an interview with Australian Story in 2008.
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But our source says after years of silence between the families, young mum Bindi is having a change of heart and is desperately trying to reconnect with her grandfather, for the sake of her adorable daughter Grace.
“Bindi is having a complete change of heart about her grandad Bob Snr. She’s realised the bitter family feud that has seen them estranged for years has finally taken its toll on her and husband Chandler, and their daughter Grace Warrior,” a friend of Bindi’s reveals.
LAST CHANCE TO MAKE UP
“She’s told her mum she wants her daughter to know her dad’s dad – that she wants to mend the rift before her grandad dies, but Terri is reportedly disappointed that her daughter would even consider such a thing after so many years of silence and bad blood.”
In 2021 Bindi revealed the extent of the family feud when she posted to Facebook, “I really wish that my entire family could spend time with [my daughter] Grace. Unfortunately, my grandfather Bob has shown no interest in spending time with me or my family.
“Publicly he continues to claim that he wants to spend time with us while privately my entire life has been psychological abuse from him,” she continued.
“He has returned gifts I’ve sent him after he opened them, he has ignored my correspondence and from the time I was a little girl he has ignored me, preferring to spend time doing anything else rather than being with me.”
But time is a great healer and since Bindi married Chandler, 27, and became a mum, she feels like life is too short to bear grudges.
“Bindi has really found her voice – she woke up one day and realised her beloved dad’s father Bob, her pop, deserves to meet little Grace Warrior – something Bindi feels so strongly about that she is prepared to go against her mum’s wishes.
REFUSING TO BACK DOWN
”She’s also realised Bob has suffered enough and she wants him to at least know she’s truly sorry for all the hurt. Even if that means putting young Grace in her car seat and driving up to her grandad’s remote rural property near Kingaroy in Queensland’s north-west to make peace, then she will do it – with or without Terri’s blessing.”
The only way forward is if Terri finally gives in, but a source close to her insists she won’t budge, the rift being so deep between Terri and Bob Snr that there’s no way she’s backing down. “It’s all up to a very brave Bindi to end this feud – they’re running out of time because Bob Snr is not getting any younger.”
