How We Met: The unusual way Chandler Powell made the 'first move' with Bindi Irwin

The moment Chandler Powell met Bindi Irwin back in 2013, he knew she was his "person in life".

At the time, the professional wake-boarder was on a family holiday from the US and was spending the day at Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast.

"It just so happened there was this beautiful girl was giving tours of the zoo that day," he told 9Honey in 2019.

IN PHOTOS: Chandler and Bindi through the years

The attraction was mutual, Bindi said.

"We just fell in love, and that was it," she explained.

"I think when you know you know, and that saying really is true. We knew immediately."

Given their instant attraction, it's not surprising Chandler went out of his way to stay in touch with the "beautiful girl" from the zoo.

However, the way he went about it was perhaps a little unusual.

"I have to say, Chandler's brother made the first move, which sounds a bit weird," Bindi laughed.

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The Florida native had told his brother Cameron he wanted to be in contact with Bindi, and asked him to message her to see if she was open to it.

"So then Cameron emailed me and I emailed back and said, 'Yes I would love that,'" the conservationalist explained.

Chandler's efforts didn't end there, though.

He also wrote a letter to Bindi's mother, Terri, to ask the same question — an especially daunting task given he was already a big admirer of the Irwin family.

"That took forever to write," he recalled.

It was a move that paid off.

"Finally, after all that, Mum came to me and said, 'Who is this guy? Is he real and why aren't you two together?'" Bindi said.

The day they met at the zoo, the pair felt immediately at ease in one another's company, as though they'd known each other "for years and years."

"We immediately met and went, 'Oh, this is how it's going'," Chandler, who relocated to Queensland to be with Bindi, said.

The fact they happened to be holding animals at the time (an echidna and a koala, if you're wondering) is also fitting, given the role wildlife occupies in their lives.

Having been immersed in the natural world since she was a child, Bindi found Chandler's affinity for "wild places" appealing.

"The fact he loves wildlife ... and is such a kind, thoughtful person, I just fell in love with that," she said.

"We always say at the zoo, [the way] people are with wildlife is a good indication of who they are as a person," added Chandler.

"Being around each other and animals so frequently, I just saw how kind and thoughtful and compassionate Bindi was.

"I knew she was someone I wanted to be around for the rest of my life."

Bindi and Chandler credited their "unconditional love" for one another as the bedrock of their relationship.

"No matter what happens in life I can always count on him. There's only a handful of people you can truly say that about," she explained.

Chandler says it's the same in reverse, with Bindi being a "leaning post" not only for him, but for her mother Terri and brother Robert.

"[She] holds us all together," he added.

That's not the only constant in their life, either. "There's always khaki. You can never go wrong with a good khaki," Bindi added.

It's a philosophy likely to be passed down to the couple's first child, daughter Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, who was born last month.

Video and interview by Damien Axiak. This article was originally published in 2019.