Robert Irwin Impresses on ‘Wicked’ Night of ‘DWTS’

Robert Irwin tangles with snakes during the day, nails dolphin dives at night. And based on his latest performance on Dancing With The Stars, the Australian wildlife conservationist should go far in the competition.

On Tuesday night (Oct. 21), the DWTS celebrities celebrated the forthcoming sequel to Jon M. Chu’s Wicked with routines set to songs from the popular musical-turned-film. Chu even stopped by to join regular judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Derek Hough and Bruno Tonioli.

Irwin gave it his best shot with a jazz performance of “Dancing Through Life”. The 21-year-old and his professional partner Witney Carson completed an energetic, free-flowing performance with smiles glued to their faces. Irwin gave viewers a little more than they bargained with a perfect dolphin dive early in their routine, and pulled off a floor slide that’d make Bruce Springsteen proud.

When the votes were counted, 39 out of a possible 40 points went to the pairings of Jordan Chiles and Ezra Sosa, and Whitney Leavitt and Mark Ballas, while Irwin and Carson nabbed nines from all four of the judges, for 36/40.

Irwin, the son of the late “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, will be hoping to emulate the success of his older sister Bindi, who won the 21^st season of DWTS, in 2015.

The remaining contestants in this 34th season of Dancing With the Star includes TV personality Dylan Efron and influencer Jen Affleck. However, Pentatonix’s Scott Hoying and Rylee Arnold are no longer competing for the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy, following their elimination on Tuesday evening. 

Dancing with the Stars airs live Tuesdays on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu. The finale will be on Nov. 25.