e and the emotional embrace he shared with mom Terri Irwin.

Robert Irwin, who also performed a tribute to older sister Bindi Irwin in another episode and went on to win the season, continued,  It's like you're facing something for the first time in your life that you've never had the strength to face. But movement and dance, that is the thing that gives you the ability to face that. 

Genkin took the advice to heart and said he would use the dance as a chance to reconnect with his late mother.

 I think this is going to be the closest I've been to her since,  he said.

Tears filled Genkin and Robert Irwin's eyes before the two hugged.  I'll be right there with you, man,  Robert Irwin sweetly told him.

The 22-year-old zookeeper and conservationist has opened up before about grieving his dad, who died in September 2006 after a stingray attack.

During an interview on CNN's  All There Is with Anderson Cooper  podcast in March, Robert Irwin revealed he still talks to his dad and feels his presence.

 I'm always closest to dad when I'm in the middle of nowhere, you know, when I'm out in the bush,  he shared.  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. 

In those moments, he often asks his dad,  How do I go forward? 

Although he doesn't hear an answer, he said he feels a  resolution. 

 There are these checkpoints that I find throughout life where you're kind of going through the motions and then sometimes something will just hit you, and you need to just step away,  he said.  You need to download and you need to let loose. You need to go,  OK, I need to refocus on what is my grief journey. 

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY: