Brisbane Mum Calls Out Gay Comments About Seven-Year-Old’s Robert Irwin Poster

For seven-year-old Alfie, Robert Irwin is his hero, and the young fan has been absolutely dying to meet him.

So much so that his dedicated mum took to the internet to get the wildlife warriors’ attention and showcase her son’s dedication.

However, for some adults online, it became an uncomfortable excuse to speculate about a child’s sexuality that prompted the Brisbane mum to speak out in defence of her son.

“He’s 7. He likes Robert Irwin. He thinks he’s amazing.”

Now his mum Becky has pushed back, challenging the idea that a boy cannot look up to and admire another man without strangers reading something into it.

The Brisbane digital content creator shared the response after footage of her son’s bedroom attracted comments about a poster from Irwin’s Bonds underwear campaign.

Becky’s original post had a very different purpose: she was reaching out to Robert Irwin in the hope of securing Alfie an invitation to the Steve Irwin Gala so he could meet his idol.

 

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A post shared by Becky | Brisbane Mum | UGC | Content Creator (@beckyyc)

She described her son as “absolutely obsessed” with the conservationist. But the glimpse of his bedroom wall prompted questions about the “half-naked” image, with some commenters asking whether displaying a “half-naked man” was “weird”.

“Why that picture of Robert Irwin?” one person questioned.

“It’s also extremely weird to have a half naked grown man in your child’s bedroom” wrote another.

Subsequently, the video went viral overnight as people from around the world shared their two cents.

Two days after the original post, Becky shared a follow-up video showing Alfie explaining his enthusiasm for his idol and used the caption to address the assumptions being made about him.

“Apparently having a poster of Robert Irwin in your bedroom means Alfie is going to grow up gay … because apparently boys aren’t allowed to admire another man without everyone questioning their sexuality,” Becky captioned the clip.

She pointed to the action heroes who had decorated boys’ bedrooms long before Irwin appeared in a pair of Bonds briefs.

“Meanwhile, an entire generation of boys grew up with Arnold Schwarzenegger in their rooms, half naked and holding a gun, and nobody was worried about their sexuality.

“He’s 7. He likes Robert Irwin. He thinks he’s amazing. Let the kid enjoy his bloody @bondsaus poster.”

Her response triggered a wave of support as people flocked to support the young man and his quest to meet his idol.

Becky said the follow-up came after several people voiced “concern” about the particular poster Alfie had chosen.

For Alfie, however, the details that mattered were the things he shared with Irwin and the wildlife.

Asked by his mum, “When you look at this picture of Robert, what do you think?”, he explained that he wears Bonds underwear too, and that seeing the poster makes him want a pet snake.

He also showed off his necklace, pointing out its resemblance to the one Irwin wears in the photograph.

Becky later made another follow-up video explaining how the poster came to be in his room after she spotted it being taken down in a local store.

 

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A post shared by Becky | Brisbane Mum | UGC | Content Creator (@beckyyc)

The image comes from Bonds’ Made For Down Under campaign, which launched in April 2025 and featured Irwin posing in briefs alongside snakes and spiders. The photographs sparked a frenzy at the time, attracting attention from around the world.

But for now, Alfie and his mum still have one goal: getting him to the Steve Irwin Gala. Becky encouraged her fans in her latest video to tag Robert Irwin in an attempt to get his attention and hopefully fulfill young Alfie’s dream.