Steve From “Blue’s Clues” Just Checked In On “The Kids He Raised” After “Quiet On Set” Exposed A Dark Side To Their Childhoods, And People Are Seriously Emotional

A familiar face from your childhood wants to know if you’re OK — and has given you a safe space to off-load if you’re not.

By
Stephanie Soteriou
by Stephanie Soteriou

BuzzFeed Staff

This article mentions allegations of child sexual assault.

Investigation Discovery’s much-anticipated docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV premiered earlier this week, and it has had a profound impact on viewers.

Drake Bell in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side Of Kids TV
ID

In the series, a host of former child actors spoke out about their alleged experiences behind the scenes of several popular Nickelodeon shows throughout the late ’90s and early ’00s.


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


Everything from The Amanda Show to Sam & Cat and All That has been reexamined, and fans have shared their heartache after hearing about how the casts of their favorite childhood shows were allegedly being treated during filming.

“I’m having a really tough time getting through #QuietOnSet and I think that's because unlike other documentaries, I remember every single person, every single sketch, every single show mentioned because they were part of my childhood,” author and journalist Morgan Jerkins tweeted, with her post racking up thousands of likes and retweets of agreement.

Twitter: @MorganJerkins

“This #QuietOnSet documentary is crazyyyyy??????? We was at home just cackling & them kids were on set being traumatized???” another popular tweet reads.

Twitter: @realjayelaine

So when another familiar face from their childhoods showed up for an impromptu check-in, millennials could not hold back their emotion.

Steve Burns from Blue's Clues in a new TikTok video
@hioutthereitsmesteve / TikTok / Via tiktok.com

On Thursday, Steve Burns took to his relatively inactive TikTok page to post a poignant video to his 1.8 million followers, asking how they were doing.

Steve in a striped shirt with Blue from the show Blue's Clues
Nickelodeon / Via youtube.com

If you need reminding, Steve hosted the popular Nickelodeon children’s show Blue’s Clues, which premiered in 1996. The show followed Blue, a cartoon dog who left clues for her friends to follow.


Steve was 22 years old when he landed the hosting gig and would talk directly to the young audience as he followed Blue on her adventures. 


As a result, Steve was a constant presence in ’90s kids' lives until he left the series in 2002 “to go to college,” with Donovan Patton replacing him for the rest of the show’s original run. 

In his new TikTok, Steve looks directly into the camera as though he is speaking to the viewer in real life and gently says, “Hey, I’m checking in. Tell me, what’s going on?”

He then sits in silence for almost a minute, seemingly giving his followers a safe space to off-load their feelings while he “listens” attentively. 

This mirrors how Steve hosted Blue’s Clues, as he always paused to give young viewers time to answer his questions.

Steve’s face is incredibly responsive in the TikTok, and he appears sympathetic as he nods along, with emotion visible in his eyes.

As the minute draws to a close, he simply says, “OK.” After another beat, he adds, “Alright, well, it’s good to hear from you. And you look great, by the way.”

Steve in his new TikTok video
@hioutthereitsmesteve / TikTok / Via tiktok.com

Steve launched his TikTok page in 2021, and while he has an impressive following, he very rarely shares videos.


And with just 31 posts on his profile in total, followers didn’t think that the timing of this one was a coincidence. 


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.”


“Not me crying the instant he asked 😭,” another confessed, while one more said, “After the Nickelodeon thing we need our Steve now more than ever.”