Bindi Irwin/InstagramBindi Irwin, daughter of the late ‘crocodile hunter’ Steve Irwin, recently announced her engagement to childhood sweetheart Chandler Powell.
The engagement took place during Bindi’s 21st birthday party, as the happy couple were surrounded by friends and family at the Australia Zoo in Queensland. The couple have been together for six years and, naturally, thousands of fans wished congratulated them on the news.
Just days after the news, it seems wedding planning is already in full swing for the 21-year-old, as Bindi and Chandler have already got big plans for the special day.
Bindi told ET the upcoming wedding will take place ‘sometime next year’, and while a date isn’t confirmed, she added incorporating her family into the day is the most important thing – particularly, honouring the memory of her dad.
Bindi said she has been thinking of her wedding day since she was ‘a little girl’. She also said how, as her father won’t be able to walk her down the aisle, she wants her brother Robert to accompany her.
Bindi said:
I think that for me, it’ll be really important that Robert walks me down the aisle. That’s something that I really want to do.
I’m always so grateful that Robert is there, and he has been such a big part of my life and he’s always stepped up and been the one to give me a hug when I need it and encourage me forward in life. So he will definitely be the one to walk me down the aisle when the time comes, and I think that will make it really special.
And I think that’s what dad would have wanted as well.
Bindi and Robert’s dad, the widely mourned ‘crocodile hunter’ and zookeeper Steve Irwin, died 13 years ago, aged 44, while he was on location shooting the documentary series Ocean’s Deadliest.
Since then, Steve’s wife Terri and children Bindi and 15-year-old Robert have kept Steve’s legacy alive, continuing their work at Australia Zoo in Queensland, while appearing in their own show, called Crikey! It’s the Irwins.
While Bindi has plans for Robert to walk her down the aisle, the 21-year-old revealed how, in place of the traditional father-daughter dance, she’ll probably be turning to her mother for that one.
She said:
I think, if I was going to do a dance, it would be with my mom. My mom and I are so close. She’s my pillar of strength in life and I love her beyond description.
So I think, when the time comes, Robert will walk me down the aisle, [Chandler and I] will have our wonderful moment and I’ll have my dance with mom. I think that would be wonderful.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.