Julia Morris exposes ‘oddly insulting’ comment she copped about working with Robert Irwin
There’s a 30-year age gap between the two stars and the comedian was urged not to flirt with the young wildlife warrior.
Julia Morris has opened up about the “oddly insulting” comment she received about Robert Irwin when he signed on to co-host I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here with her.
The comedian hosted the Channel 10 program with Dr Chris Brown from 2015 to 2023, and the pair had great on-screen chemistry.
Robert took over from the celebrity vet in 2024 and injected a fun, youthful energy into the show for its tenth, eleventh, and twelfth seasons.
Julia revealed on Stellar’s Something To Talk About podcast that before her and Robert’s first season together launched, people kept saying the same thing to her.
“When we were doing our interviews, and Robert wasn’t there on the day… they’d say, ‘Well, I hope you don’t flirt with him’, like, ‘You shouldn’t be flirting with him, because you flirted with the doctor,'” she said.
She admitted it’s rare to see an older woman paired with a younger man to host of one of the biggest shows on TV.
There’s a 30-year age gap between the two, with Julia being 51 and Robert 21 when they first appeared alongside each other on the program.
But she said there’s an art to co-hosting a show like I’m A Celeb, and it’s all about trying to find the right connection that works with the audience.
“With Robert, it’s easy,” she said.
“He’s very open, and he’s the same. He wants to have that connection, and the connection is as simple as being present.
“What sort of creep would I be in my mid 50s, flirting with a young person?”
She said it felt like a “brother-sister” vibe when they were filming together and enjoying downtime while in South Africa.
People were stunned when Julia revealed the comment, with many saying they thought she was very professional on-screen.
Robert Irwin and Julia Morris test how well they know each other
“You guys are fabulous together. What’s wrong with this world?” wrote one.
“We know your sense of humour, Julia, to know any ‘flirty’ comments were hilarious,” added another.
Sadly for viewers, they won’t get to see Robert and Julia together on I’m A Celeb for the foreseeable future.
Channel 10 made the difficult decision in May to “rest” the program for the 2027 season.
It didn’t reveal whether it could be revived down the track, but said the network will now be able to focus on offering its audience a “range of content on all platforms”.