Robert Irwin still asks late father Steve Irwin how to "move forward" after his death.

The 21-year-old TV star and conservationist has opened up on how he still communicates with the Crocodile Hunter legend, who died aged 44 after being pierced in the chest by a stingray in 2006.

In a tearful interview two decades after his dad's passing, Robert told Anderson Cooper's All There Is podcast: "There are moments where... I'll sit... I'm always closest to Dad when I'm in the middle of nowhere, you know, when I'm out in the bush.

"There are absolutely moments where I'll be hit with this sense of... it's warmth - it's like something kind of wraps around me...

"I will absolutely sit and just say: 'How do I, like, how do I go forward', you know? How do you move forward?"

Robert explained that despite being constantly reminded of Steve in everyday life, the "nicest" and most therapeutic moments come when he's on his own.

He explained: "[With] my dad always being this constant thread in my life and people always talking about him, sometimes one of the nicest things is to just sit... in nature and I just kind of let it all go.

"I let it all sort of pour out and it feels like I'm kind of letting him in. Sometimes I sit and just go: 'What's next? How do I put one foot in front of the other?;

"And there's no answer, but it almost feels like there's a resolution that comes out of that."

The Dancing With The Stars winner admitted his "greatest fear" is still the possibility of "forgetting" what is dad felt like.

He said: "For me growing up, my greatest fear - and it still is my greatest fear - is forgetting what he feels like or what he felt like.

"And that was something that would for a long time really, really keep me up at night.

"But I think one of the greatest saving graces in keeping him alive in my life is my mum [Terri]. She is the reason why I have such a clear picture of the person that he was.'

Being around his family's Australia Zoo is also a source of comfort, even if his dad's death is still difficult to come to terms with.

He added: "Growing up, it was comforting the fact that I had his presence around, that I could see him in videos and pictures.

"When I walk around our place here at Australia Zoo, when I'm in the place that he built... I feel him so completely, but it's impossible not to feel that equal sense of emptiness from him not being here."