Bindi Irwin not Under Pressure, According to Manager

Bindi Irwin, the eight-year old daughter of legendary Australian ‘crocodile hunter’ late Steve Irwin, is not being put under any pressure to pursue a career in showbiz in America, according to John Stainton, manager and friend of the Irwin family.

Bindi, the eight-year old wildlife wunderkind, is scheduled to undertake a whirlwind tour of the United States. She is scheduled to travel to Los Angeles and New York, where she would perform her high-octane stage show, Bindi and The Crocmen, and also make appearances on popular TV talk shows such as The Late Show with David Letterman and The Ellen Degeneres Show.

Besides doing her stage show and the TV appearances, Bindi will also star in Bindi, the Jungle Girl, a series on the Discovery Kids network, and will also address the Washington Press Club. The tour is part of a package worked out by Tourism Australia, G’Day USA Week, which is targeted at bringing more American tourists over to Australia, and involves The Wiggles, Russell Crowe, and The Veronicas as well.

Bindi was set to make the trip with her father Steve earlier. However, Steve died on September 4, 2006, after the serrated barb of a sting ray pierced his heart while he was filming a documentary in the waters off Australia’s north-eastern coast. His tragic death meant she has to do the show alone. Bindi will be accompanied on the trip by her mother Terri and Wes Mannion, director of Australia Zoo.

The proposed tour has had mixed responses. While there have been positive responses from many quarters, critics from Australia and across the globe have accused Bindi’s US-born mother Terri and her advisers of pushing her into show business too early. Their point: she may be too young to be able to cope with the pressure.

Stainton however said on ABC Radio that there would be no pressure on Bindi from any quarter during the tour. According to him, she would be given the leeway to pull out of any engagements with the media, no matter how late the decision is taken. “My criterion is if Bindi doesn't want to do it that day, if she wants to go to the zoo or the beach, then that's what we're doing.”