{"id":1522114,"date":"2026-07-08T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?guid=0c80b574aefa34d00f6a6bbeb4b9c843"},"modified":"2026-07-08T11:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T16:09:13","slug":"robert-irwin-opens-up-about-going-from-dancing-with-the-stars-winner-to-next-pro-host","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/?p=1522114","title":{"rendered":"Robert Irwin opens up about going from ‘Dancing with the Stars’ winner to ‘Next Pro’ host"},"content":{"rendered":"
Wildlife conservationist and 'Dancing With the Stars' winner Robert Irwin is the host of 'Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro.' (ABC News)<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Robert Irwin is back in the Dancing with the Stars<\/em> universe as host of the upcoming spinoff, Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro<\/em>.<\/p>

This time, instead of getting down on the ballroom floor, the season 34 winner will be guiding a new group of dancers as they vie for a spot as the next pro on the reality competition show.<\/p>

At first glance, Irwin's transition from zookeeper at Australia Zoo to dancer, reality show winner and now host may seem unorthodox, but Irwin told Good Morning America<\/em> in an interview Wednesday that everything has fallen into place seamlessly.<\/p>

\"Going from contestant to host, first of all, I'm not getting judged, so that's great. The other thing is, also, I feel like I can be, in some way, a bit of a mentor, because I'm obviously not the best dancer, but I had the best partner, I had Witney Carson,\" Irwin said. \"So, I know what it is to have a great pro partner teaching me ... I can say to these hopefuls, 'Hey, this is what it takes.'\"<\/p>

The Next Pro<\/em> follows 12 emerging ballroom dancers as they progress through a multistep audition process.<\/p>

\"These aren't celebrity contestants that have given [ballroom dancing] a go, these are the best in the industry, so it is hard,\" Irwin said. \"It is really, really hard.\"<\/p>

The winner of The Next Pro<\/em> will earn a spot as a pro dancer on season 35 of Dancing with the Stars<\/em>.<\/p>

\"We actually filmed The Next Pro<\/em> right down the road from Australia Zoo,\" Irwin explained. \"Showing all of my dance family Australia Zoo, welcoming them in, I got them their own khaki uniforms \u2014 they're in there cuddling koalas and wrangling crocodiles.\"<\/p>

As for the next DWTS<\/em> season, Irwin said he's looking forward to rooting for Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/em> personality Guillermo Rodriguez. He said he also caught up with new cast member Jackson Olson, the Savannah Bananas' second baseman.<\/p>

\"I said, 'Mate, the thing is, anyone who does this show, I say, you've got to lean in, you've got to let go, enjoy the process, trust your partner, and try to tell your story,'\" Irwin said. \"That's what sets Dancing with the Stars<\/em> apart. It's so much more than dancing. We can tell a message.\"<\/p>

Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro<\/em> premieres Monday on ABC and streams Tuesday on Hulu. <\/p>

Disney is the parent company of ABC News, ABC and Hulu. <\/em><\/p>

Copyright \u00a9 2026, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wildlife conservationist and ‘Dancing With the Stars’ winner Robert Irwin is the host of ‘Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro.’ (ABC News)Robert Irwin is back in the Dancing with the Stars universe as host of the upcoming spinoff, Dancing with the Sta…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2773,"featured_media":1522123,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/syndication.abcaudio.com\/files\/2026-07-08\/E_RobertIrwin_070826.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1451],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1522114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-abc-entertainment-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-10 12:41:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"trash","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/syndication.abcaudio.com\/files\/2026-07-08\/E_RobertIrwin_070826.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2773"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1522114"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1522122,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1522114\/revisions\/1522122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1522114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1522114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ktbb.com\/post\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1522114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}