Why did Steve Burns leave Blue’s Clues? Former host pens up about challenges in new podcast 

Variety reported in 2022 that Steve Burns, the original host of Nickelodeon’s Blue’s Clues, had shared the real reason behind his sudden exit from the series. Steve Burns, who left the show in 2002 under the storyline that his character was leaving for college, said the decision ultimately came down to age. He told Variety that “it was simply my time,” noting that he was nearly 30 and didn’t want to wear a wig on television after beginning to lose his hair.

From 1996 to 2006, Blue’s Clues aired on Nickelodeon’s Nick Jr., introducing children to problem-solving and early learning. Steve Burns portrayed a cheerful, curious friend to an animated dog named Blue, who communicated through paw print clues. With audience participation and simple life lessons, the series became one of the network’s most recognizable programs. Though years have passed since his departure, Steve Burns has acknowledged the lasting impact of his time on Blue’s Clues. Maintaining the wholesome image he built on the show has brought both personal and professional challenges.

---

Steve Burns opens up about how his kids’ TV past affects his present:

As per recent reports shared by Us Weekly, Steve Burns said that his time on the Nickelodeon show continued to influence how he approached adult topics even years later. On the Wednesday, October 22 episode of his Alive podcast, Burns, now 52, admitted that maintaining his wholesome image had been both a blessing and a limitation.

“I can’t even bring myself to talk dirty, you know what it is? Maybe I could have in another life ‘cause I was a voiceover guy forever, that’s what I did,” he shared.

“I feel, like, because of my old job, I’m not allowed to do that. I think it’s vestigial from how I evolved professionally, like, I wouldn’t even know how to do it. I feel if I tried to do it, it would have to be super-nice guy, like, ‘Hey baby girl, I’m so valuing your perspective right now,’” he added.

Burns, who was succeeded on Blue’s Clues by Donovan Patton and later Josh De La Cruz, launched Alive to connect more personally with his audience. His latest guest, Boy Meets World alum Maitland Ward, discussed her transition into adult entertainment.

“I think that’s your value, I think it’s a little bit different in your personal maturity talking. Sometimes it can feel a little silly in your personal [life,] but I feel going on p*rn sets and doing this … is for a professional job. It’s a place where I can do everything that I want to do, and the other people in the scene are totally into that. It’s a really freeing experience to explore sexually,” Ward told Burns.

Ward said Steve Burns would likely excel at dirty talk because of “the grit” in his voice.

“You’ve really opened my mind a lot here, I think maybe I should drop an OnlyF*ns where I just do that [and] where I just say validating things. Like, ‘What have you done to your hair? It looks absolutely fantastic. Don’t change a thing,’” he replied.

He continued joking, adding another line he could use:

“No, I’m totally listening. Please tell me everything about Brenda at work.”

Despite his humor, Burns acknowledged the tension between his past role and his present self.

“I think it’s because I used to be on kids’ TV and people tell me, ‘You were a big part of our childhoods.’ I feel like I’m not allowed to talk about sex or have a sex life. I know that I am, but sometimes it feels that way.”

---

Steve Burns on leaving Blue’s Clues and finding himself again:

As Variety reported, Steve Burns was only 22 when Blue’s Clues first hit Nickelodeon screens, a role he landed almost by accident. The job offered him something unexpected: a kind of creative solitude.

“The environment was a blue screen, which is a void, and some lights, point being, I couldn’t see anybody else. Sometimes I could see the director, but mostly ‘Blue’s Clues’ felt like a gentle, small, personal experience. It was me and a camera. That’s what I remember. The whole thing was me and my ride-or-die, which was you,” he recalled.

When Burns eventually decided to leave the show, he later revealed additional reasons for his decision.

“I didn’t know it yet, but I was the happiest depressed person in North America, I was struggling with severe clinical depression the whole time I was on that show. It was my job to be utterly and completely full of joy and wonder at all times, and that became impossible. I was always able to dig and find something that felt authentic to me that was good enough to be on the show, but after years and years of going to the well without replenishing it, there was a cost,” he explained.

Though it took time, Steve Burns said he eventually found his footing.

“My strategy had been: ‘Hey, you got a great thing going, so just fight it!’ Turns out, you don’t fight depression; you collect it. After I left ‘Blue’s Clues,’ there was a long period of healing. It wasn’t until the death of my father that I really started to take things seriously, and my life became so much more manageable.”