Steve From “Blue’s Clues” Said That He Watched “Quiet On Set” With “Horror And Heartbreak” After He Checked In On “The Kids He Raised” Amid The “Unfathomably Painful” Allegations

Just days after the harrowing docuseries premiered, Steve left millennials everywhere feeling pretty emotional when he checked in with them via TikTok.

By
Stephanie Soteriou
by Stephanie Soteriou

BuzzFeed Staff

This article mentions allegations of child sexual assault.

Last month, millennials everywhere were left feeling pretty emotional when former Blue’s Clues host Steve Burns took it upon himself to check in with followers after the release of Investigation Discovery’s unsettling docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV.

Steve Burns in a TikTok video
TikTok @hioutthereitsmesteve / Via tiktok.com

In case you missed it, viewers were profoundly impacted by the show, which saw several former child stars speak out against their alleged experiences behind the scenes of several popular Nickelodeon shows throughout the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. 


In addition to stars such as Drake Bell coming forward with allegations of being sexually abused as a child, troubling scenes from some of the network’s most beloved series resurfaced, and viewers were left horrified by the way that the young stars were seemingly sexualized. 


People admitted to having “a really tough time” processing what was allegedly going on during the making of some of their most loved childhood shows, so when a familiar face from that period of their lives showed up for an impromptu check-in, it didn’t feel like a coincidence.

For context, Blue’s Clues premiered in 1996 and follows Blue, an animated dog who has left clues for her friends to find. Steve was the human face of the show until he left in 2002 “to go to college,” with Donovan Patton replacing him as host for the rest of Blue’s Clues' original run.

Steve in Blue's Clues
Nick Jr.

In the episodes, Steve often talked directly to the young audience as he followed Blue on her adventures, making him a constant presence in the lives of '90s kids throughout their preschool years.

And just days after Quiet on Set’s premiere, Steve took to his relatively inactive TikTok page to share a poignant video with his 1.8 million followers, which simply asked how they were doing.

TikTok @hioutthereitsmesteve / Via tiktok.com

Looking directly into the camera, Steve gently said: “Hey, I’m checking in. Tell me, what’s going on?”

He then sat in silence for almost a minute, giving his followers a safe space to offload their feelings while he “listened” attentively. This mirrored how Steve hosted Blue’s Clues, as he always paused to give young viewers time to answer his questions. 

Despite having an impressive TikTok following, Steve's account, which he launched in 2021, has just 31 uploads. Because of how rarely he posts videos, fans couldn’t help but think that he shared this particular one because of the revelations on Quiet on Set.

One popular comment on the post reads: “I feel like he knew that the Nickelodeon fans needed this after the documentary came out. And this is the best response: How are you? Are you okay?”

“They need you. The kids who are grown now who watched Nickelodeon,” somebody else wrote. “Thanks for being here.”

Another person tweeted at the time: “Steve really realizes that sometimes only he can check in on the kids he raised. it's something.”

While Steve has not confirmed whether Quiet on Set’s release inspired the timing of his post, he did share his thoughts on the docuseries in a new interview with Today.

Drake Bell in a mint suit jacket and white shirt, seated and looking at the camera
ID

“I don’t have any particular insight into any of that,” he said of the show’s harrowing subject matter. “I’m coming to it much the same as anyone else, with horror and heartbreak. It’s just terrible to watch it unfold. I don’t know what else to say, other than that it’s heartbreaking.”


Sharing his sympathy for the alleged victims, Steve added: “It’s got to be so unfathomably painful. The fact that this is now what everyone’s talking about at the water cooler, it just breaks my heart.”


He also noted that while Blue’s Clues aired on Nickelodeon’s spin-off channel, Nick Jr., the two networks operated completely differently, so he had no firsthand experience with any of the behavior allegedly exhibited at Nickelodeon during this time.


“Nick Jr. and Nickelodeon [programming] were so different,” Steve explained. “We’re in New York, they’re in LA. There’s no overlap whatsoever between any of those shows and what we were doing.”


After Quiet on Set’s premiere, Nickelodeon issued a statement that read: “Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct.”

Meanwhile, Steve opened up about his decision to step away from Blue’s Clues in an incredibly candid interview with Variety back in 2022, where he said that he was “struggling with severe clinical depression the whole time” he was on the show.

Steve Burns at Blue's Clues premiere
Steve Granitz / WireImage

“It was my job to be utterly and completely full of joy and wonder at all times, and that became impossible,” he continued. "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."


After leaving the show, Steve said that he had a “long period of healing,” but his life didn’t become “more manageable” until the death of his father in 2015.


In recent years, the beloved star has returned to the Blue’s Clues universe in a few ways, including appearing in a special Nick Jr. video for the show’s 25th anniversary in 2021 and in Paramount+’s revival series, Blue’s Clues & You!


You can stream Quiet on Set on Max in the US and on Discovery+ in the UK.


If you or someone you know has experienced sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673), which routes the caller to their nearest sexual assault service provider. You can also search for your local center here. 


The National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline is 1-888-950-6264 (NAMI) and provides information and referral services; GoodTherapy.org is an association of mental health professionals from more than 25 countries who support efforts to reduce harm in therapy.


If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453(4.A.CHILD); service can be provided in over 140 languages.


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