Robert Irwin Says Sister Bindi’s Support Means Everything as He Prepares for DWTS: “She’s Always in My Corner”

It’s all love in the ballroom!

It was announced last month that Robert Irwin will compete on season 34 of Dancing with the Stars, years after older sister Bindi Irwin competed and won in 2015.

Now, in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE at the annual Steve Irwin Gala in Las Vegas on May 10, Robert said the brother-sister duo don't feel any competition with one another.

"There is no sibling rivalry," he explained. "It's actually really nice. She has just said, ‘Go into this and make it your own.’ She said it's going to be a completely different experience.”

Robert, who has yet to find out who his professional dance partner will be, said his sister’s involvement in the show inspired him.

“I mean, I was there as a little 11-year-old kid with my little blonde bowl cut watching her and trying to support from the sidelines, and now Bindi is going to be there supporting me, and she'll have a lot more dance wisdom than 11-year-old Robert," he said. "I didn't have much to bring to the table, but she does. She's done it. She's won it."

Still, the conservationist — who recently posed in his underwear for some NSFW ad photos — doesn’t feel the need to mirror his sister’s success, nor is there pressure to do so.  

“I'm definitely going to be leaning on her a lot, as I have throughout my entire life, to be honest,” he told PEOPLE. “I think loss brings a family together like nothing else, and for us, for Bindi and myself, we've always had each other's backs through everything, and this is going to be no different. I feel very lucky that I've got her in my corner.”

The siblings and their mother, Terri Irwin, were supposed to be together at the gala, which honors the life of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, but Bindi had to be rushed into emergency surgery after her appendix burst. 

“There's never a good time for your appendix to go, 'See ya,' but today's the day, so she is such a trooper,” the youngest Irwin told the crowd at the event. “She's had a grumbling appendix for a long time.”
Robert added that his sister “defines that warrior spirit.”

The fundraiser raised money for Wildlife Warriors, the global conservation charity founded by Terri, 60, and her late husband.