Terri Irwin has great affection for Russell Crowe — but none of it is romantic. The wildlife conservationist, 52, reacted to the rumors of a romance between her and the actor, 53, during an appearance with daughter Bindi Irwin on Access Hollywood Live on Friday, May 12.
Terri, who was married to the late Steve Irwin for 14 years until his death in 2006, explained her relationship with Crowe to Natalie Morales and Kit Hoover. “He is very lucky to be embroiled in all of these great rumors. We are friends, so he did contact me and ask me if there was something I should let him know,” she joked of the Aussie.
“In all honesty, he and Steve became friends many years ago, and after Steve passed, you find out who your true friends are,” she continued. “And Russell has been very loyal as a great friend.”
She went on to note that Crowe helped their family protect the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve. “Russell was right there,” she said. “He talked about the situation publicly and stood up and helped us and is a great guy. But absolutely just a dear friend. Nothing going on.”
In fact, Terri said she hasn’t dated anyone in the 10-plus years since Steve’s death. “Just because I feel a connection still with Steve,” she explained. “I really don’t think I would have married if I hadn’t met Steve. And he’s very special to me and continues to be. And 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.”
Bindi, 18, added to Us Weekly that she still thinks of her parents as married. “My beautiful
mom, she is very much still married to Dad,” she told Us. “Russell is lovely. He was
a dear friend of my dad’s and he’s now a dear friend of our family. We
think that he’s part of our family, but there is no love relationship
there. Mom and Russell, they are great friends
and that’s fantastic, and he’s always going to be a dear friend of ours,
and we love him and all that he stands for. He’s a great guy and a great
dad and all of that, but no there is no romance in the air.”
