Robert Irwin is reportedly already making plans with Ashleigh Scully, and that is exactly what has Terri Irwin and Bindi Irwin worried. A source says the 22-year-old is moving quickly with the 24-year-old wildlife photographer, even as his family is said to be happy he has found someone who makes him smile.
The concern is not about Scully herself. The family is said to think she seems lovely, but they also believe Irwin is racing ahead too fast in a relationship that has only recently moved into public view. That is what has turned a low-key romance rumor into a story people are searching for now.
Irwin and Scully were photographed laughing and chatting together near the Australian set of Dancing With the Stars: The Pros in late March, and the sighting added fresh fuel to talk that had already been building around the pair. They had been pals for years before the photos, which helps explain why the relationship appears to have moved from friendship into something more without much warning.
What has caught the attention of his family is how far ahead Irwin is already thinking. The source says he has been talking about involving Scully in every aspect of his life, including spending time at the zoo, getting to know the family business and becoming part of the wider Irwin world. That fits with a man who has not had a huge amount of serious relationship experience and who tends to throw himself in with both feet when he falls for someone.
That same intensity is what leaves Terri and Bindi uneasy. They are said to be thrilled to see him happy and would never want to dampen his enthusiasm, but they also think he needs to cool his jets a little. In other words, the pushback is not about whether Scully belongs in his life; it is about how fast he is trying to make that happen.
The timing makes the concern sharper. Irwin’s last relationship with Rorie Buckey ended two years ago, so this is not a story of a long settled love affair finding its next step. It is a new romance, still surrounded by the kind of public curiosity that comes with an Irwin family member, and still unclear on whether the two have chosen to confirm it themselves. What is clear is that the pace of the relationship, not the relationship itself, is now the part everyone around him is watching.
For now, the main question is whether Irwin slows down enough to let the romance develop on its own terms. The family is happy for him. They just do not sound convinced he should be planning the rest of the future before the present has had time to settle.
