Robert Irwin reveals the most important lesson dad Steve Irwin ever taught him

The son of the late great Steve Irwin has recalled the 'most important lesson' he ever received from the legendary conservationist.

20 years to the day, Irwin tragically lost his life in a freak stingray incident while filming around the Great Barrier Reef.

As Australia's most famous export (sorry Margot Robbie!), the shockwaves of his death are still felt today, with nobody even coming close to replicating his chaotic charisma in the nature documentary landscape.

Robert Irwin - the youngest of Steve and Terri Irwin's two children - is continuing the family legacy as one of the managers of Australia Zoo, and spoke exclusively to LADbible for our Honesty Box series.

Asked what lessons from his father he holds dearest, the 22-year-old's answer was something you'd see coming a mile away, really.

"The most important lesson that my dad taught me was this thing he used to always say, which is, 'Treat every living being the way you would wish to be treated'," shared Robert.

Steve Irwin was famous for wrangling deadly animal species on various TV programmes

"You know, that's that old saying, 'Treat every person you come into contact with how you wanna be treated'.

"But he really extended that out to every animal, every plant, every person, every living being that you interact with should be met with the same level of care, appreciation, and respect that you would wanna receive. And I think that is something that I've kept with me for my whole life," he continued.

"I think it's very important. And if you treat everything with a sense of passion, with a sense of respect, and if you treat every living being with respect, I think that's very, very important. And I think there's a lot of people that could take that onboard."

Whether it was a Komodo dragon, monitor lizards, American crocodiles or king cobras, Irwin Sr handled each creature with the ultimate care - even if they were quite clearly unnerved by his presence.

This comes after his widow, Terri, spoke of the realities of life after her heart-crushing loss.

In conversation with Australia's 10 News, she lamented the fact that her husband will never look older than middle-age in their family photo albums, or on TV re-runs.

"Steve forever will never be older than 44, in any photo," Terri said last year. "Here I am 61, and here's this little spunky guy. It's hard."

As for why she's decided to stay single since Irwin's death, her insight was quite refreshing.

"I'm sure there's a lot of lovely people out there in the world, but I did find my happily ever after, and I think I still have a lot of love in my life," noted Terri.

"I'm lonely for Steve, but I'm not lonely. I never mourn being on my own and not being in a relationship. I think we need to say that."