Robert Irwin is no stranger to going viral, but this time, he didn’t need a snake, a spider, or even a kangaroo. He just needed one shirt. Or, rather, he needed to rip one off.
During his latest Dancing with the Stars routine, the 21-year-old conservationist tore open his button-down mid-dance, revealing a torso that had the live audience screaming so loud it nearly drowned out the music.
Within seconds, X was in a state of chaos. One fan posted the clip with the caption “THE SCREAMS LMFAOOOO,” and honestly, that said it all.
Another joked they were only watching DWTS “for the plot,” alongside a pair of shirtless thirst pics of Irwin that made the case pretty convincingly.
But the best reaction came from inside the ballroom itself. Host Julianne Hough couldn’t resist jumping into the fun, tweeting a meme of her wide-eyed expression next to a shirtless Irwin labeled “My afternoon snack,” with the caption, “you too?!”
If this all feels familiar, that’s because Irwin’s been steadily building a résumé as Gen Z’s latest thirst icon. From his viral Bonds underwear ad (yes, the one with the snakes) to his rugged People magazine cover shoot in denim and horses, he’s been inching further into a very public thirst era.
DWTS, however, may be his most unhinged entry yet—enough to make some people joke he’s trying to out-slut Dylan Efron on national TV.
The rest of the internet didn’t hold back either, with the gays thanking him for giving us a fun night.
“Robert Irwin shirtless on my TV screen. Thank you to the ballroom gods, Witney Carson, the costume department, and the endless reasons to tune into this blessed program!” one person wrote.
Another gasped, “It feels illegal to watch Robert Irwin dance with his shirt off. Putting myself in timeout.”
Conservation may be his life’s work, but this week, Robert Irwin isn’t saving crocodiles. He’s saving the gays—and doing it one shirtless routine at a time.
Check out Irwin’s tweet recapping the night, as well as the full dance video, below:
