Terri Irwin Honors Steve Irwin With Emotional Tribute 20 Years After His Death

To honor Steve Irwin 20 years after his untimely death, Terri Irwin penned a touching tribute to her late husband that offered insight into how she has carried the loss. The widow has often paid homage to “The Crocodile Hunter” star, including in June 2017. On what would have been their 25th wedding anniversary, Terri honored Steve by posting an adorable snap of the pair sharing a kiss. Understandably, the anniversary of her husband’s death brought a more somber post from Terri. “After 20 years, grief still walks with me like my shadow,” she wrote in the opening of an Instagram post on September 4. 

Terri Irwin reflected on a poignant family journey that took place shortly before Steve Irwin’s death. “We were together as a family, on our crocodile research expedition, for what was to be our final six weeks together,” she wrote. While the anniversary of his passing naturally brought grief back to the surface, Terri also found meaning in those last shared moments. “I believe that all of us, every one of us, gets to say goodbye. We just may not know that we’re saying it,” she wrote, looking back on the time they unknowingly spent saying farewell.

Terri has also spoken candidly about the final time she saw Steve alive. “I remember him at the airstrip waving goodbye,” she said during a July 2018 appearance on the Australian program “Anh’s Brush with Fame” (via ABC News). In that same interview, she described the devastating moment she learned he had died. “I just remember this incredible sense of responsibility, this feeling of overwhelming grief,” Terri said, explaining that she then had to tell the couple’s children the unthinkable news. In the years that followed, she continued forward with Bindi and Robert, keeping Steve’s conservation mission alive — though opening her heart to romance again was not something she chose to do.

Terri’s emotional tribute marking the 20th anniversary of Steve Irwin’s death underscored something she has long made clear: she has not dated since losing him in 2006. In a January 2018 interview with People, she explained why she never felt compelled to return to the dating world. “I think it’s wonderful when people who have lost someone find love again, but I’m not personally looking, and I haven’t been on a date in 27 years,” Terri said, referring back to the early 1990s, when she and Steve first met. “I’ve already had my happily ever after,” she added.

In 2017, speculation swirled that Terri had become romantically involved with Russell Crowe, another high-profile figure closely associated with Australia. Around the same time, reports claimed her children were encouraging her to date again. Terri soon shut down the rumors herself. “I haven’t dated anyone in the 10 years since we lost Steve just because I feel a connection still with Steve,” she said on “Access Hollywood” in May 2017. She made it clear that her life remained full, even without another partner. “I’ve got beautiful kids and a lot of wonderful conservation work. So I’m lonely for Steve, but I’m not a lonely person,” Terri added.

For anyone familiar with Terri and Steve’s bond, her enduring devotion is hardly surprising. Their love story began almost instantly when Terri visited Australia in 1991 and met the wildlife warrior who would become her husband. “Right away we were talking about wildlife, and our passions in life and I kept thinking, ‘I wonder if this guy’s married,’” she recalled to People in February 2019. After Terri returned home to Oregon, Steve did not wait long to follow; just weeks later, he traveled to see her.