Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

(Sept. 27) - The day that popular television personality Steve "Crocodile Hunter" Irwin died was the day his wife, Terri, says she lost her prince.

It's been almost a month since a stingray barb killed her husband of 14 years, piercing his heart as he filmed a show on the Great Barrier Reef. Terri spoke with Barbara Walters, in her first interview since Irwin's death, about how she is coping.

"One minute at a time. Sometime an hour at a time. With great faith, great determination," Terri says. "I have tremendous faith in God that all things happen for a reason, even if we don't understand. ... I have two beautiful children. And they really are my strength."

Terri met Steve Irwin on Oct. 6, 1991. The Oregon native was visiting Australia with friends. "I went into this little reptile park, and Steve was doing the crocodile show, coincidentally. ... I was absolutely floored. That was it. This man was a real-life hero. I fell then and there, love at first sight."

They started talking, and Terri says it became clear that Steve liked her too. But he told her he had a girlfriend. "I was a little bit devastated, she says." But that lovesick devastation didn't last for long. Steve introduced Terri to his girlfriend Sue, a little dog.

Six months later, they were married.

Terri says she'd marry Steve again in a minute, even knowing how it would end.

Despite the loss of her husband, Terri says she still feels blessed that she had him in her life. "I had romance like I didn't think existed anymore, a wonderful romance. He was passionate and determined and enthusiastic."

He had so much enthusiasm for life, that at times, Terri says, it was hard to keep up with him. "There were so many things that made me crazy, like his desire to do everything now. He had a real sense of urgency with his life and no side view business plan. If you got plans, we'll do them now." At Irwin's memorial service, it was said over and over again how "Steve changed the world." Terri says he changed the world by giving everyone a message. "If you can reach out and touch and love and be with wildlife, you will forever be changed and you will want to make the world a better place. ... If we do nothing ... we're in trouble. And he did more than anybody. So I think we can all do something."

As the Irwin family continues to grieve, there's one thing Terri says she misses the most. "He was fun. He was fun. He taught me it's OK to play in the rain. And splash in my puddle. And let the kids get dirty. And spill ice cream on your pants. He didn't sweat the little stuff. He followed the big picture. And he had fun! Now I'm going to work really hard at having fun again. ... I'm Mrs. Steve Irwin. I've got a lot to live up to."

Terri remembers how much her husband loved being in the wild. "When he was in with those crocodiles, all he wanted to do was show you and convince you why you should love them. ... He just absolutely loved crocodiles. ... But you know how he saw them. Not as weird. He saw them as dinosaurs. ... He saw them as the most amazing animals."

Bindi, their 8-year-old daughter, reminds Terri of her husband. "Bindi has a spirituality about her that I've seen with Steve. She has unbelievable sensitivity. She has an uncanny connection with wildlife. She has a love for them that was just like her dad's. ... She seems to feel an animal. She seems to understand it and have this great gift of love."

Bindi has begun to follow in her father's footsteps. She's on a new series the Discovery Network has developed called "Bindi the Jungle Girl," which Bindi hosts herself.


And what's in Terri's own future? "I have to be here for my children," she says. "I have to make sure the zoo keeps running. He planned all of that masterfully. He planned this wonderful business so that it could continue if anything happened to him."

And if the youngest of the Irwin clan, 2-year-old Robert, has any say in future plans, his father will be back in their lives. Just the other night, Terri says she found Robert fixing a motorbike with a screwdriver. She asked him what he was doing, and he answered, "I'm fixing the motorbike so Daddy can drive it from heaven."

Irwin always felt he would die early, but that he would be killed in a car wreck and not by an animal, his widow says.

In an interview with Australia's Nine Network, Irwin said her husband thought he would be killed in a car wreck and not by an animal. He also had an uncanny way with animals that both of them believed would keep him safe as he caught crocodiles, snatched up snakes and played with other dangerous beasts.

"I never thought it would be an animal, he never thought it would be an animal," Irwin said. "I thought he would fall out of a tree, he thought it would be a car accident."

Asked by interviewer Ray Martin if Irwin believed he would die early, Terri Irwin said, "He had a very strong conviction that he would. To the point where I'm grateful in a way, because we're prepared."

Irwin, 44, died minutes after a stingray's barb pierced his chest while he filmed a TV show on the Great Barrier Reef. His death prompted an unprecedented outpouring of grief in Australia and among millions of fans of his TV show, "Crocodile Hunter."

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

I'll be watching tonight! prob crying along with her

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

Posted by Nicole728

I'll be watching tonight! prob crying along with her

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

this is just my opinion, but i think its odd that the wife is doing an interview so soon

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

Posted by muchinluvmichi

this is just my opinion, but i think its odd that the wife is doing an interview so soon

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

Posted by MsMBV

Posted by muchinluvmichi

this is just my opinion, but i think its odd that the wife is doing an interview so soon

Personally, I think with so much media about it here & around the world, maybe she sees this as an opportunity to answer some of the questions posed to her & move on..

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

For some reason, his death hit me hard.

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

What channel and what time? i want to watch.

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

I would really like to watch, but I think I would just sit there blubbering.

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

I wasnt that big a Steve Irwin fan but of course would never wish him this fate. Can you imagine?? I dont know how you cope except like she said, a hour, sometimes a minute at a time. How sad & tragic!!!

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

Posted by MrsDiamondgrlie

For some reason, his death hit me hard.

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

Posted by MrsDiamondgrlie

For some reason, his death hit me hard.

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

his death has REALLY upset me as well. and to the person that said that this interview is too soon....I am sure she is being questioned and pressured like crazy...it is obvious that she is extremely distraught, but she knows that Steve has many fans around the world, so she I'm sure she is trying her best to respect her husband and answer the questions that the media is bombarding her with. she is a very level-headed gal, and I think she is suffering more than any of us could ever know.

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

I feel so bad for her!

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

Posted by baghag

What channel and what time? i want to watch.

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

Did anyone watch this? I was watching last night, and I have to say, those two were really made for each other. True soulmates

Re: Terri Irwin interview with Barbara Walters

Posted by imagin916

Did anyone watch this? I was watching last night, and I have to say, those two were really made for each other. True soulmates