A rumor that circulated online in October 2025 claimed (archived) that Robert Irwin, the son of the late zookeeper and conservationist Steve Irwin, said he wouldn’t participate in Pride Night on the television show “Dancing with the Stars.”
Irwin joined the cast of the popular dancing show for its 34th season in the fall of 2025.
According to one Facebook post, Irwin reportedly said, “This show should focus only on dance and performances, not on political issues or social movements.”
Other Facebook users also shared the same claim (archived, archived). Some of those posts featured links in top comments leading to articles hosted by WordPress blogs, such as one advertisement-filled story hosted on the flowfitdaily.info website.
The claim was false. We found no credible reports of Irwin making the reported announcement or even that the show would host a “Pride Night” (archived, archived, archived, archived). The show announced (archived) its themed nights in September 2025, with no LGBTQ+ or Pride theme listed.
Rather, the person or people who authored the story fabricated the entire tale as one of hundreds of tales about celebrities and athletes. They aimed to earn advertising revenue on websites linked from the aforementioned Facebook posts.
An examination of the Irwin Legacy Facebook page that posted the claim on Oct. 16 found that the page then posted twice more about Irwin and his supposed opinion on the LGBTQ+ community. On Oct. 19, 2025, Irwin allegedly “stunned the world” (archived) by refusing to wear a rainbow patch. Then, on Oct. 20, Irwin allegedly sparked (archived) “a massive wave of reactions” with his support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Irwin previously described himself as “an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community” in a 2020 Instagram post (archived). In 2024, after telling the Australian journalist Matthew Myers about his affinity for ABBA, Irwin also spoke about having friends who were gay.
Snopes contacted a manager of the Irwin Legacy Facebook page to ask about the fictional stories displayed on the feed, and will update this story if we receive more information.
Snopes routinely fact-checks Facebook claims about celebrities, such as whether Taylor Swift was pregnant in October 2025 (she wasn’t) or whether Jason Kelce, the brother of Swift’s fiancé Travis Kelce, supported Bad Bunny’s 2026 Super Bowl halftime show.
