Robert Irwin issues public apology to Coffs Harbour restaurant after failing to pay for his meal
The Australian wildlife warrior, 21, shared a video on Instagram directed at the owners of The Jetty Pavilion in Coffs Harbour, revealing his embarrassment over his recent 'dine and dash' at their eatery while road tripping along the east coast.
Irwin said he stopped in Coffs for dinner over the weekend, where he ordered a takeaway salad and quickly became distracted by a flurry of fans wanting selfies.
'I went in there, and there was a lot of people who, you know, saw me and said g'day, and wanted to have a photo. But it turned into a bit of a frenzy … It was a bit of a flurry there for a moment,' Irwin began.
'Anyway, they got the salad done super fast, I made sure I said hi to absolutely everyone, 'Cheers, thanks so much, see ya later.'
'Then the next morning wake up and realise, I never paid for my salad! I just did the old dine and dash and didn't even realise. I felt terrible.'
The I'm A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! co-host said he quickly reached out to the venue and offered to hand over his credit card details to fix up the bill, as he'd already left Coffs at that point.
'They said, 'Don't worry, just leave us a good review.' I said, 'I'll do you one better!'' Irwin continued.
'There are eight million of you guys on here [Instagram]. Go and support the Jetty Pavilion. They are the absolute best.
'I apologise again. Today is not the day I start my life of crime, as much as the tabloids would love that.'
The venue hilariously reacted to the video on its official Instagram account, revealing the salad at the centre of the great Irwin dine and dash scandal: A $26 Harvest Bowl.
Owners Kyle Miller and Ben Hemsworth sat down for an interview with Today Monday morning, where they assured they had no hard feelings against Irwin for his slip-up. Quite the contrary, they say he's brought money-can't-buy exposure to their business and the area of Coffs Harbour.
'Unbelievable [exposure]. I was a bit in shock,' owner Hemsworth said on-air.
'I was expecting just to see 'Jetty Pavilion has a great salad' on a Google review, and then I got a message from my daughter saying, 'Oh my god, I saw the video!' And my phone just lit up.'
The pair also cheekily put majority of the blame on their 'starstruck' waitresses.
'Some of the girls got a little starstruck and forgot to accept a payment, and they came and told me a little afterwards, and I said, 'Did you get his number?'' Hemsworth said, laughing.
'It's not very common for us to get a world celebrity in the door, so we can't blame the girls for that one, I guess he's a good lookin' fella,' Miller added.
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