The ‘Dancing With the Stars’ contestant got emotional during an Oct. 15 chat on ‘The Viall Files’

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Robert Irwin got candid about his grief journey during his Oct. 15 appearance on The Viall Files
The Dancing with the Stars contestant and conservationist opened up about the death of his father, Steve Irwin, and why he feels it’s “okay to be vulnerable”
“There’s no grief journey that’s easy and there’s no grief journey that’s the same as the other,” he said

Robert Irwin is reflecting on the legacy of his late father, Steve Irwin.

TheDancing with the Stars contestant was visibly emotional while discussing his dad during his Wednesday, Oct. 15 appearance on The Viall Files podcast as he expressed the importance of vulnerability in one’s grief journey.

While sitting alongside his dance partner Witney Carson, Robert opened up about grief being “part of the deal” in life, and how it’s still “so bloody hard.” The 21-year-old conservationist’s father died at age 44 in 2006 after being pierced by a stingray barb while filming in Australia.

“There’s no grief journey that’s easy and there’s no grief journey that’s the same as the other. But for me to be able to celebrate my dad, to celebrate the person he is, to continue what he loved is the honor of a lifetime,” Robert said, before turning his head, crying and reaching out to hold Carson’s hand.

“I do that with such pride,” he added. “… And I really hope what we all do with a platform is to try and say it’s okay. It’s okay when life’s hard. It’s okay to be vulnerable. And it’s okay sometimes for some days to just be too much. And to just try and keep that light in your heart, try and find the people that lift you up and just lift each other up.”

Robert Irwin on The Viall Files.Nick Viall/Youtube

Robert then added that it’s “okay to find that grief sometimes” and that it’s “been the week for it.” The interview was released the same week as Robert and his partner’s Dedication Week dance on DWTS, during which the pair danced to “You’ll Be in My Heart” with some help from Robert’s mother, Terri.

“It’s so powerful because you realize none of us are doing this alone,” he said. “We’ve all experienced that in some way and we all will have to be there for each other.”

After the Tuesday, Oct. 14 performance, Robert’s sister, Bindi, 27, ran to hug him before he received his scores from the judges. Robert was then brought to tears as judge Derek Hough told him he has “become such amazing man and the world needs the Irwin family.”

Speaking with PEOPLE on Tuesday, Robert praised his mother for her “strength” after his dad’s death. “I think, growing up, there’s certain things as a kid that you don’t realize. I mean, a credit to my mum, I never felt as though I ever missed out on anything in life,” Robert said.

“I always felt, obviously, I was missing a very big part of my life, but she made sure that I never felt I missed out,” he added of Terri, 61. “I got to have such an incredible childhood. But then, as you get a little bit older and you look back and get perspective.”

Robert added that he now realizes the “strength” his mother “had to keep going” after the loss in the family. “Let alone to continue the legacy that my dad started with her, but also to raise us kids,” he said.