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Robert Irwin shared a special moment with a contestant during the latest episode of “Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro” when the two bonded over losing one of their parents at a young age.
In the second episode of the “Dancing With the Stars” spinoff, which aired July 20, the 14 remaining contestants were paired up and tasked with choreographing a dance that told the story of a significant moment in their lives. Dancer Allen Genkin, 36, decided to portray the absence he has felt since his mother died.
Genkin practiced the choreography with partner Adele Zaikman, explaining to her that for one particular move he wanted her to represent his mother being an angel looking over him. After rehearsals, Genkin became emotional and confided in Irwin, whose father Steve Irwin died when he was just 2 years old, and the two had a poignant conversation about grief.
“I wanted to visit Allen today because I know he’s telling a very important story, and a story that’s hard to tell. I want to see if I can help him through,” Robert Irwin, who hosts the competition series, explained in a voiceover.
While speaking with Genkin about the challenge, Robert Irwin said, “This week is heavy. But I feel like, particularly for you, it’s an important story.”
Genkin then shared that his mother, whom he described as his “best friend,” died when he was 15.
“You know, 20 years have gone by. They say time heals all wounds, but it really doesn’t,” he told Robert Irwin, who shook his head and agreed with Genkin. “And the only way I could really do it justice is to really showcase it through art, and that’s what I want to do.”
Robert Irwin said he could relate to Genkin because he also confronted the pain of losing a parent through dance.
“I understand what it’s like to lose someone. When I did ‘Dancing With the Stars,’ I was given this opportunity to do a dedication dance to my mom. As soon as that music stopped, my mom joined me on stage, and I completely broke down,” he recalled, referring to the Season 34 “Dedication Night” episode and the emotional embrace he shared with mom Terri Irwin.
Robert Irwin, who also performed a tribute to older sister Bindi Irwin in another episode and went on to win the season, continued, “It’s like you’re facing something for the first time in your life that you’ve never had the strength to face. But movement and dance, that is the thing that gives you the ability to face that.”
Genkin took the advice to heart and said he would use the dance as a chance to reconnect with his late mother.
“I think this is going to be the closest I’ve been to her since,” he said.
Tears filled Genkin and Robert Irwin’s eyes before the two hugged. “I’ll be right there with you, man,” Robert Irwin sweetly told him.
The 22-year-old zookeeper and conservationist has opened up before about grieving his dad, who died in September 2006 after a stingray attack.
During an interview on CNN’s “All There Is with Anderson Cooper” podcast in March, Robert Irwin revealed he still talks to his dad and feels his presence.
“I’m always closest to dad when I’m in the middle of nowhere, you know, when I’m out in the bush,” he shared. “There are absolutely moments where I’ll be hit with this sense of — it’s warmth, it’s like something kind of wraps around me.”
In those moments, he often asks his dad, “How do I go forward?”
Although he doesn’t hear an answer, he said he feels a “resolution.”
“There are these checkpoints that I find throughout life where you’re kind of going through the motions and then sometimes something will just hit you, and you need to just step away,” he said. “You need to download and you need to let loose. You need to go, ‘OK, I need to refocus on what is my grief journey.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
