Robert Irwin has recalled the terrifying moment he was pinned down by a “boss croc” at his family’s wildlife conservation park, Australia Zoo.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, the 22-year-old gave host Jimmy Fallon an update on the crocodile named after the talk show host at the Sunshine State reserve – a croc Robert knows all too well, given it once tried to “death-roll” him.
“I named this crocodile Jimmy Fallon, like, years ago, and he’s now what we call a boss croc,” Robert told Fallon on the show. “He’s huge, right?”
A playfully defensive Fallon tried to stop his namesake crocodile from being body-shamed, hilariously interjecting that the animal is actually “normal size” but “as you get older, you start to put some pounds on”.
“I know what it’s like,” the 51-year-old added.
Robert laughed that he is indeed aware of the croc’s increasing size because he once felt the weight of its entire body on him while trying to study the massive creature.
“We research crocodiles in the wild to better conserve them, right? The way you do that — my dad came up with this — is you actually have to jump on them, right?” Robert said, referring to his late father, Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin.
“So I jumped on the back of Jimmy Fallon and, get this … he death-rolled me,” he continued. “I jumped onto him. I kid you not – 14 foot [4.2 metres] of crocodile, big croc, death rolls me.”
“So I’m stuck underneath him with my arm hanging out. I’ve got like, probably, I don’t know, maybe 700 pounds [317kg] on top of me and I’m just like, ‘What do I do?’”
Luckily for Robert, the croc eventually “rolled back the other way” and the wildlife warrior was able to crawl away from under him.
“I was fine, but he’s a goer, Jimmy,” he concluded. “He’s a goer.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Robert excitedly shared more details on his upcoming hosting gig on the US Dancing With The Stars spin-off show, Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro.
“We shot it in Brisbane, so right at Australia Zoo,” he said proudly. “There’s even an episode that may or may not take place with some of my animals back at Australia Zoo.”
The Next Pro will feature 12 up-and-coming dancers – the best of the best from around the world – who move into a house together and battle through the audition process.
Their ultimate goal is to win a spot as a pro dancer on the upcoming Season 35 of Dancing with the Stars.
Robert won the most recent season of DWTS, taking home the prized mirrorball trophy with dance partner Witney Carson. His sister, Bindi, also won the title back in 2015, aged just 17.