Female Beauty

Everybody knows the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, who recently died while filming a show. The Australian conservationist and television personality died from the poisonous jab of a stingray on September 4th.But a part of him that survived is seen now in the passion of his 8-yr-old daughter, Bindi, who will star in a wildlife series to air on the Discovery Kids network.
The show’s working title: “Bindi, The Jungle Girl.”The show was originally “going to be a father-daughter thing,” starring the nature-loving duo, her late father will appear with her in a few of the episodes which were recorded before his death. “We’ll never refer to the fact that Steve is no longer with us,” says John Stainton, who was Steve’s manager and family’s long-time friend. “The way that it works is that Steve plays co-star to Bindi. It’s just the little reactions that she gives to her Dad who’s, you know, doing sort of silly stuff.” Discovery publicist Annie Howell told the AP on Monday. “Steve and Bindi were very enthusiastic about doing the show together.” 

The opening sequence of Bindi, The Jungle Girl features animated shots of Bindi and Steve in a jungle, accompanied by a theme song with lyrics, “The Croc Hunter taught her/ and now his only daughter/ is Bindi the Jungle Girl.”
In her first formal interview with ABC’s Australian Story, since her father’s death, she said, “I’m trying to get across the message that don’t be afraid of animals, they’re just put on this earth to help the environment and everything like that.”
Bindi explained of her character, “Bindi, The Jungle Girl is really lucky because she lives in a tree-house and she gets lots of animals in and out. She hangs out with lots of wildlife. She just loves kissing a koala or hugging a snake.”

Bindi is already proving to be comfortable in the public eye. She gave a moving tribute to her father at his Sept. 20 memorial service and presented an award at the Oct. 11 Nickelodeon Australian Kids’ Choice Awards 2006.  Bindi admits she cannot wait to start filming the show, because she loves animals. And like her father, Bindi is fearless. “Some people think that I would be afraid of them, but I’m never ever afraid of an animal,” she says. “I just get excited and some that are dangerous I just think, ‘Oooh! What’s going to happen?’ and things like that.”

Meanwhile, fans will never know the whereabouts of late TV presenter’s final resting place, because his widow promised him that she’d never tell. Terri Irwin made her late husband a promise when they sat down to talk about wills and funeral plans that she wouldn’t let fans find out where he’s buried. ‘I’m keeping that very private because that’s what he wanted. He gave me specific direction and part of it was to please keep it private.” she said.

There is controversy about Bindi on the Jungle show - is it too early for her to be working, less than two months after her father’s death? Steve’s best friend and Australia Zoo director, Wes Manion, said, “Filming for her is very much like other kids’ soccer. … Bindi has been basically going, ‘Come on, I want to start filming again, I want to start getting out there, I want to start spreading Dad’s message.’ And I think that’s part of her way of coping as well.”
Responding to critics who might say Bindi is too young to be in the spotlight, Stainton says, “I think they don’t understand that this little girl is very much enjoying what she’s doing. She is in control.”
But in the late news, John Stainton told The Daily Telegraph he was taking a year’s holiday and filming for the 26-episode “animal encounter” series would not begin again until his return. Mr. Stainton said he was “fed up” with radio talkback hosts debating whether eight-year-old Bindi was too young for international stardom, but denied his impending break was to shield her from the spotlight.

The US-based Discovery Channel said it had been prepared to shelve the project after Bindi’s father Steve died in September. Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan also was concerned that Bindi risked losing her childhood. But Mr. Stainton said, “I can’t understand what all the fuss is about. As far as I know, only one person has said this. That’s not public opinion, it’s something the media has created.”
“If Steve were still around, he would have a freak out on these same people who are trying to cut off his daughter from carrying on his message. Steve and Bindi had this TV show already to go, and to keep her dreams alive is to also help her heal over the loss of her Dad. It keeps her Father alive by continuing what they had started together. Steve never would let a negative person destroy his plans or dreams, but we just know that he’d walk right past these kinds of downer people.” was a recent, highly apt, comment. -source: AAP

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 19th, 2006 at 5:35 pm and is filed under Career, Her Diary, Lifestyle, Personality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.