"It feels like a cultural preference" — Blue's Clues star Steve Burns speaks about death hoax impacting his depression
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Steve Burns (Photo: Everett Collection)Steve Burns, best remembered for hosting Blue's Clues, opens up about the death hoax following his exit from the Nickelodeon show. During his appearance on Rainn Wilson’s Soul Boom podcast on Thursday, May 1, the 51-year-old detailed how the rumors affected his mental health.
Burns was a part of the educational children's show between 1996 and 2002. Following his exit, hearsay that he had died began circulating and has since persisted. Reflecting on the speculations, Burm told Wilson:
"When a rumor like that persists for three or four years, it stops being funny."
He continued:
"When it persists for 10 years it feels like a cultural preference... when it persists for 15 or 20 years, you start to feel like you're supposed to be."
"Eventually I started playing along" — Steve Burns about dealing with the death rumors
When Steve Burns left Blue's Clues in 2002, he did not give an official explanation, further reinforcing the speculations about his supposed death. According to the former host, this included claims he was a "heroin addict" who died of an "overdose" and "suicide." Some even claimed he had "wrapped a Dodge Charger around a tree."
Burns told Wilson that he was in "the throes of this depression" when he left the show. Noting that the claims were not something a person with mental health struggles should hear, he elaborated:
"What a lot of people don’t understand is that that during the show, the internet was beginning to internet and the world decided, or a large portion of the world decided, that I had died."
He asserted that it was "bad," especially given his severe clinical depression.
Steve Burns revealed that those close to him, too, fell for the rumors. He recalled the time his mother called him in tears, wanting to make sure he was alive. While both he and Nickelodeon were unhappy with the sustained speculations, there was nothing they could do.
The Blue's Clues star made several public appearances to battle the death hoax to no avail. This included appearing in the 2006 Nickelodeon special Behind the Clues: 10 Years of Blue. Expressing his exasperation, Steve Burns told Wilson:
"I would go on The Rosie O’Donnell Show and be like, ‘Hi. I’m still alive.’ I was on one talk show where I danced with Busta Rhymes, and people still thought I was (dead) like, what else do you have to do?"
During a September 2024 interview with the New York Times, Burns made similar remarks about the speculations, stating they "hurt" and "messed him up." Notably, Snopes, a fact-checking website, even published an article in 2015 declaring that Steve Burns was alive and well.
In its aftermath, Burns turned to alcohol and even began isolating himself from others. He explained that he built a house in Brooklyn and "never left it," confessing that he called it the "'gray' of (his) life." Hinting at his inner turmoil, he noted:
"It was about 10 years where I did nothing but, like, drink couple of bottles of wine every night alone, watch MythBusters... and just eat Pad Thai."
The routine certainly took a toll on his health. The 51-year-old elaborated that he gained fifty pounds and was "completely unrecognizable."
"Everyone thought I was dead. And eventually I started playing along. You know, that was the strategy. Was just... maybe I am," Steve Burns stated.
He has since come full circle and embraced the rumors. Last September, he took to his Instagram, where he has humorously kept the handle @steveburnsisalive, to share a selfie wearing a t-shirt saying "Not dead yet."
Talking to Rainn Wilson, Steve Burns jokingly explained that the experience taught him to never Google himself.
Nowadays, the former Blue's Clues host uses his social media platform to check in with his followers, many of them being the kids that watched his show. According to E! News, he is often seen on TikTok listening to his fans' triumphs and struggles. According to Times of India, the comments under his posts frequently detail the positive impact Burns had on their lives.
Speaking to HuffPost in December 2016, Steve Burns revealed he left Blue's Clues because he felt it was "time to go." He "was getting older" and losing (his) hair" while playing a "boyish" character. He explained:
"A lot of the original gangsters on the show, like the people who created it, were all moving on to other careers. It just felt like time. I just had a gut feeling like it was time to go."
He also described his experience on the show as "surreal," noting he was grateful to be a part of it.
Steve Burns has since starred in Paramount+'s Blue's Big City Adventure (2022) along with other Blue's Clues hosts Donovan Patton and Josh Dela Cruz. The film is available to stream on the platform.
TOPICS: Steve Burns, Blue's Clues, Rainn Wilson