Monday night’s “Dancing with the Stars” introduced the most pivotal moments in each contestant’s life so far. For Bindi Irwin, daughter of the late crocodile-hunting Steve Irwin, that moment was losing her father.

“What shaped me the most would probably be when my dad passed away,” Bindi said in her emotional pre-recorded segment. “It took a really long time to understand what actually happened. For the rest of my life, I’ll kind of feel like he’s going to come home.”

Bindi — now a TV personality and nature conservationist — and her partner Derek Hough performed to a cover of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take,” in tribute. Afterward, Hough told People he’d been holding Bindi’s ears and trying to make her laugh during the video so she wouldn’t cry during the dance. The pair received a high score of 28 out of 30.

“You have to remember that that emotion is just a part of life, and we all have to deal with different things,” she told People. “But you have to find that beauty in every day. Tonight, it was just all about remembering the fact that dad is always with me, and I carry him in my heart.”

“Dancing with the Stars” airs Mondays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.

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