Bindi Irwin’s “hilarious” and “curious” daughter, Grace, 3, loves growing up at the Australia Zoo — and is already running the show.
“She is so much fun,” Bindi, 25, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Endometriosis Foundation’s Blossom Ball in New York City on Friday, May 3. “Honestly, she’s the one that runs Australia Zoo at this point — 100 percent. She’s like, ‘I run this zoo and I will take care of everyone,’ but she’s 3.”
Grace, whom Bindi shares with her husband, Chandler Powell, has “no fear” of animals, with her favorite being tortoises.
“Every single afternoon without fail, we give her the option: You can go anywhere in the zoo — always to the tortoise yard,” Bindi said of her “beautiful and hilarious” daughter. “We pick hibiscus and then go feed the tortoises, and she loves them.”
Bindi Irwin Through the Years: From ‘Jungle Girl’ to Mom
Bindi admitted bugs aren’t her personal forte, despite her daughter being “obsessed” with all the creepy crawly creatures.
“I don’t quite like wasps, and I have a little bit like bugs, in general. I’m not scared of them, but you know, I don’t really want a cockroach climbing on my face. Do you know what I mean?” Bindi continued. “[Grace] thinks that bugs are the best thing in the world. Every day, she’s like, ‘Mama, let’s go look for bugs.’ So she loves them. So, trying to teach her, you know, like bees are lovely, but we’re not going to pick them up because they sting. While terrifying me, I’m trying to swallow that fear when I’m around her. But it is, it’s really sweet.”
The toddler “just loves everything” and is “curious” about the world around her, which has helped Bindi find her inner child.
“Being so little, she just is so inquisitive and fascinated by the world, and I wish adults were more like that,” Bindi said. “I don’t know where sometimes people lose that sense of magic in the world and it’s so sad. But watching her and how much she rebels and enjoys the colors and the sight and sounds, it brings that magic to all of us — and it’s that wonderful reminder.”
Grace is growing up similarly to Bindi being surrounded by animals and the magic of the Australia Zoo, and it’s extremely “important” that the toddler “knows” her late grandfather, Steve Irwin, who was killed by a stingray at age 44 in September 2006 while filming in the Great Barrier Reef.
Bindi Irwin and Chandler Powell’s Family Album With Daughter Grace
“He’s not here, and it’s so hard not having him around to be able to run around with Grace,” Bindi said of her father. “Because I know if he was still alive today, we would never see Grace. He would just take her and be like, ‘Let’s go climb the mountain and climb the street and go see these animals.’ But being able to show her documentaries is so incredibly special because she’s all in. As soon as we turn on Dad, knows who he is and she starts doing her imitations. So I’ll say, ‘Crikey.’ And she’ll be yelling, ‘Crikey,’ through the living room and It’s really sweet.”
Her daughter’s familiarity with Steve is extremely “meaningful” and Bindi is “so grateful” that Grace can get to know her grandfather in a “really special” way on-screen.
“I cry every, every single time,” Bindi said of seeing Grace use her father’s famous catchphrase. “It’s so meaningful watching her get to know Dad and the fact that Dad was — he was really on television as he was in real life. That is so nice because I know she’s genuinely meeting him and learning about him through the TV screen and the fact that he has affected so many lives.”
