Robert Irwin is hot property. Just ask the record number of viewers who tuned in and voted for him on Dancing with the Stars in the US. Or the millions of fans on TikTok who have been watching him, on repeat, rip his shirt off.

Even a friend of mine – not given to hyperbole – gasps when I mention his name, and then admits that an older woman in her office is “obsessed” with him, too. “We bought her a Robert Irwin calendar for Christmas,” she admits.

His mum, Terri, thinks he could be the next Tom Cruise. While US reputation consultant Eric Schiffer estimates Irwin’s brand to be worth about $US30 million ($45 million).

But for Irwin, that hype and “value” only mean one thing.

“All I can think about right now, if I had that $US30 million, is I could save a lot of wildlife with that,” says Irwin, who is speaking over Zoom from South Africa, where he is filming his third season of I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! as co-host with Julia Morris.

Robert Irwin and Julia Morris, hosts of I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!

“Oh, man. I’m thinking about the amount of protected land you could buy with that, I’m thinking about everything you could do with our wildlife hospital, the amount of additions you could make on our rescue unit to save even more koalas. Like, all of a sudden, my mind just starts to tick over.”

There’s a reason the 22-year-old has been called a walking green flag. He’s genuine, thoughtful and can slide – unbidden – koalas into the conversation. And he always makes sure to mention the staff at Australia Zoo and the crew on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! There’s a generosity of spirit there – and good ol’ plain manners – that runs deep.

In short, there are no flies on him, and if there were, he’d probably ask what species they were.

“You know, there’s a lot of, like, weird kind of attachments to that idea of becoming a man,” says Irwin. “But for me, this show [Dancing with the Stars] gave me this overwhelming sense of there’s power in vulnerability, like that is really important.

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“I’ve always sort of worn my heart on my sleeve. And there are two performances [on _Dancing with the Star_s] that really stand out to me: a dedication performance that I dedicated to my mum, and then one that I dedicated to my dad [Steve] and my sister [Bindi].

“And I was really overcome with emotion because you are completely raw, like your filter is gone because you’re so exhausted, and you’re literally moving your body to music that is like an expression of your deepest emotions, and you can’t help but let that take over. And I’ve never cried so much in my life, and it was all on national television.