EXCLUSIVE Inside the wild rumours about Robert Irwin and Shawn Mendes that are rocking the internet
Instead of his raunchy Bonds underwear causing a stir, this time around it all has to do with wild fake images featuring Canadian singer Shawn Mendes, 26.
The pair have been bizarrely romantically linked thanks to a slew of AI -generated posts and clickbait headlines suggesting they are secretly dating.
Obviously there's no truth to the romance rumours, and insiders say the Irwin family are just as baffled as the rest of us.
The strange pairing all started when the Treat You Better hitmaker teamed up with Robert, 21, and Oscar-winner, Javier Bardem, to promote the animated film Lyle, Lyle Crocodile back in 2022.
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In the video, Robert quizzes the pair on crocodile trivia, sharing his passion for reptiles with his signature enthusiasm.
The clip, seemingly innocuous, was enough to send the internet into matchmaking mode.
Hopeful fans across TikTok and X have been busy concocting AI-generated memes and images showing the duo as a fake couple.
Some cheeky users have even praised the pair as the 'perfect match' and dubbed it the 'crocodile love story we never saw coming!'
One fake clickbait laden image shows a shot of Robert flexing his form in Bonds underwear on top of another of Shawn leaning in to kiss an unidentified person.
The fake headline on the image reads: ''He didn't say a word, but one quiet gesture from Shawn Mendes to Robert Irwin is breaking the internet – and fans think it means everything.'
Another shows a tryptic of images - the first of Shawn bearing his torso as he reclines on a couch, coupled with another showing Shawn and Robert embracing, and a third of a smiling solo Robert.
The headline on the fake image reads: 'Shawn Mendes and Robert Irwin just shared a moment so low-key, it broke the internet.'
Hopeful fans across TikTok and X have been busy concocting AI-generated memes and images showing the duo as a fake couple
According to insiders, the Irwin family are at a loss to explain the sudden concocted fake romance.
'It's been a whirlwind,' a source close to the family told Daily Mail Australia.
'People are congratulating Robert on social media like it's official, but he and Shawn are obviously just friends.'
'Shawn has always had fun with fans' theories, but there's clearly nothing going on romantically,' they added.
Despite the relationship being fabricated, the clickbait seems to be doing the trick, with many fans swooning over the pairing on social media.
'Well, it's about time we saw some exciting news! I've been following Shawn Mendes for years, and I think he deserves all the happiness in the world,' one fan wrote on Facebook.
'Let's keep our fingers crossed for this potential new couple!'
Another added: 'According to "so called" news reports I keep getting on my feed, this now makes around 10 different people Shawn is supposed to be in "a romance" with.'
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Robert Irwin for comment.
The Grammy-nominated singer, who famously dated Camila Cabello, has been open about taking time off from music to prioritise his mental health.
While questions about his sexuality have followed him for years, Shawn has never confirmed anything.
Back in October, The Señorita hitmaker spoke to the crowd at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Monday to address the 'truth' about his love life.
Telling his fans he was trying to be 'really brave', the singer admitted that sexuality was a complex issue.
'There's this thing about my sexuality, and people have been talking about it so long,' Shawn said, saying it was 'kind of silly, because I think sexuality is such a beautifully complex thing, and it's so hard to just put into boxes.'
'The real truth about my life and my sexuality is that, man, I'm just figuring it out like everyone.'
He continued: 'It always felt like such an intrusion on something very personal to me. Something that I was figuring out in myself, something that I had yet to discover and still have yet to discover it.
'And it feels really scary because we live in a society that has a lot to say about that. And I'm trying to be really brave and just allow myself to be a human and feel things. And that's all I really want to say about that for now.'
Meanwhile, Robert was in a relationship with Rorie Buckley for almost two years, with the couple announcing their split in February 2024.
He also allegedly cooled his relationship with his 'secret' girlfriend - fellow Australia Zoo worker Charlotte Briggs in February this year.
The pair were first linked back in July 2024 when they looked cosy arriving in Sydney together ahead of the I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! star's appearance on The Project.
Reports later suggested they started officially dating in November, but sources now tell Daily Mail Australia their plans to 'hard launch' their relationship have 'fizzled'.
'It seems like the tide has turned on that,' confirmed one source from the South African set of the Channel Ten show.
'The itinerary has changed and what has changed for Robert personally is what has many over here suspecting that his post-jungle relationship is over.'
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