Terri Irwin breaks silence on Richard Wilkins romance rumours

Terri Irwin has laughed off false rumours she is dating Richard Wilkins. 

After New Idea ran a story suggesting the couple ‘were in love’ last month, Terri, 55, has admitted she finds the constant speculation about her love life amusing. 

‘So far it’s 25 men I have had a relationship with. I have kept track because it’s kind of funny,’ she told The Courier Mail on Sunday of the never ending rumours.

The Wildlife Warrior continued: ‘Let’s see, apparently it’s all the Hogans – that’s Paul and Hulk, Russell Crowe, and most recently, it’s Richard Wilkins.’

Bizarrely, the magazine linked Terri and Richard despite the fact that the Weekend Today host has been in a happy relationship with girlfriend Virginia Burmeister for three years.  

Terri, who has chosen to remain single since her late husband Steve died in 2006, went on to joke about ‘the most flattering’ celebrity she is regularly linked to. 

She laughed: ‘I think it would be Russell because he is such a good person, a very good friend to our family, and I actually really do love him because he loved Steve and they were such good friends. He stepped up so much when Steve died.’

Terri went on to reveal that Russel was ‘the very first person’ to call after Steve, the late Crocodile Hunter, died on September 4, 2006.

She concluded: ‘It meant a lot and now I kind of feel sorry for him because he is forever being linked to me, so I could be cramping his style.’ 

Terri has repeatedly denied that she is dating Russell over the years, admitting she still ‘feels a connection to Steve’ and has no interest in finding love again.

She told Access Hollywood in 2017: ‘In all honesty, he and Steve became friends many years ago, and after Steve passed, you find out who your true friends are. 

‘And Russell has been very loyal as a great friend.’