Rumors recently started going around about the widening rift with Bindi Irwin's grandfather Bob following the death of her father, the late Steve Irwin, and she knew it was time to unfortunately address these rumors and explain how everyone handles loss in their own way.
While at the AACTA Awards in Australia on Wednesday, the 17-year-old "Dancing With The Stars" champion spoke out about the increasingly strained relationship between her family and Steve's father Bob, who has previously reflected on his struggle to cope after the loss of his son in 2006.
"Everyone deals with grief differently," she told the Daily Mail. "When my dad passed away he chose to distance himself from everything that dad loved the most. At the moment we're really just respecting his wishes because he hasn't had anything to do with us for a long time and he decided his own path. That's important so good for him."
While he does still operate the Bob Irwin Wildlife & Conservative Foundation, he did retire from the Australia Zoo, where Bindi and her family work and live, in 1992. "There was one year where we sent birthday presents to him," Bindi recalled. "And he opened them up and he sent them back. With things like that you realize that people need to deal with grief how they need to deal with grief and as long as it doesn't hurt yourself or hurt those around you then that's the way to go."
Bob told Australia's Sunday Mail back in 2010 that there was a rift between him and Bindi's mother Terri Irwin that prevented him from seeing Bindi and her brother Robert, adding that he had not seen them since 2008.
"I haven't heard from them [Bindi and Robert] and it is sad but that's a part of life I guess," he said at the time. "Of course I'd like to see them but that [the rift with Terri] hasn't been resolved."
