Younger Gen-Xers, older Gen-Zs, and all the Millennials who watched Blue's Clues growing up can attest to the influence the first host, Steve Burns, had on our childhoods, and we had endless questions when he suddenly left "for college."
Fortunately for all of us, we've been getting an increasing amount of closure over the years as Steve reveals more about his time during and after the show.
Back in 2021, for the 25th anniversary of the show, Steve Burns reappeared and reminded his audience of how much they'd grown and how proud of them he was. It was also around this time he revealed that, despite all the dark rumors, he'd actually left the show due to hair loss and signs of aging.
Since the anniversary, Steve has become more connected with his fans on TikTok, posting videos of him checking in and then just listening. After President Donald Trump was elected for a second time, he even brought his audience a cup of coffee and just held space with them, giving them time to process the results.
He even did a special edition video with Rainn Wilson, which you can see here:
This week on the Soul Boom with Rainn Wilson podcast, Burns revealed even more about his time on the show, ranging from the pressure he felt around his identity to how little money he was paid.
"Every waiter I ever knew made more money than I did for the first many seasons of that show."
"It was like a side hustle at first. My real gig was [as] a voiceover guy. I fell into that early."
"Actually, because I thought [Blue's Clues] was a voice thing, I went to that audience, and when I got there, there was a camera in the room. And I thought, 'Oh s**t, I better do something.' So I looked at the script, and you know, I figured, 'I'm gonna act the s**t out of this.'"
Steve's audience was so compelling, he was a quick sell for the part on Blue's Clues, which became the first call-and-response children's television show of its kind.
But there were other hurdles Steve had to cross, like who he was going to be on camera.
"You get to be two things as a kids' show host: You get to be an implausible saint, like Fred Rogers, or you get to be a crack-addled monster. There is no in-between. You get bifurcated and marginalized to the extremes."
"This has been a struggle of mine, you know?"
"I used to always feel like, Dear God, I'm screwed, because I'm gonna disappoint everyone by being normal."
"I'm not Fred Rogers. Of course I'm not. I make no such claim. I'm a pretty nice guy, and I try to be. And I aspire to be, but I'm no more wholesome than you or anyone else."
"I'm also not a crack-addled miscreant."
"I am a person with wonderful qualities and flaws just like anybody else. And I've always felt like, 'Man, do I get to be that? Will people be sad if I am not either of these things?' That's kind of the Fred Rogers problem."
Rainn Wilson understood what Steve was saying and empathized with him, adding:
"You can't be a flawed and struggling human being who has qualities of great wisdom to share and to help and to educate, but who also has struggles. And is human."
Fans empathized with Steve and applauded him for being real and honest.
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Other fans shared how important Steve on Blue's Clues had been to them and their families.
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It's so refreshing when Steve Burns reveals something new about himself, because it's far too frequent of a problem that we put a character or an actor on a pedestal, only to have the rug pulled out from under us later when it is revealed that they are not the good and kind person that we thought they were.
Being vulnerable and honest can be scary, but Burns' revelations have only served to make his audience care more for him, as they can see how genuine his work has been, but also how relatably human he is, too.
You can watch the full podcast below.
- YouTubeyoutu.be
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