Robert Irwin has ended up in "a scary place" after posing in his underwear.

The 21-year-old conservationist - who is the is the son of late 'Crocodile Hunter' star Steve Irwin - recently stripped down to his boxers for a campaign with the brand Bonds but ahead of his appearance on the upcoming season of ''Dancing With the Stars' he has admitted that he has had to avoid his direct messages because of the reaction to the risque shoot.

He told UsWeekly: "I'm in a scary place right now. I've been kinda sorta avoiding the direct message section for a little bit.

"The last couple months have been very eye-opening, that's for sure. And I really thought in modeling Bonds underwear or doing 'Dancing With the Stars', that sort of thing, I could bring in a whole new audience to listen to my conservation message."

The 'Crikey! It's The Irwins' star tends to "feel comfortable" with wild animals but appreciates that his upcoming stint on the ABC competition will bring his passion to a wider audience.

He said: "When we made the announcement for 'Dancing With the Stars', I had a snake right there with me. That's how I feel comfortable. That's who I am. It's all about this mission and I've got a real sense of purpose and passion. I got to achieve that. I definitely feel like I'm really lucky that now I've got a whole new audience that I can reach and hopefully just put out a bit of positivity and hopefully say, 'Life's for living at 100 hundred."

What's more, Robert has found that while his newer level of fame has left him "a little nervous and unsure", he is just going to "try as hard" as he can as he prepares to follow in the footsteps of his sister.

He said: "If you're taking on something new that makes you a little nervous, you're a little bit unsure, that's OK.

"You just got to give it your all. And you've got to try as hard as you can to have a bit of fun.

"I'm excited to just go. Bring it on. Let's do this. But you have no idea how grateful I am to have Bindi [Irwin], who went through this experience. Not only did she do 'Dancing With the Stars', I mean she won 'Dancing With the Stars' and just was such an incredible shining light. I remember watching [her] on that show just thinking, 'This is the coolest thing ever!'"