When Steve Burns left the hit Nickelodeon show Blue’s Clues in 2002, many of his fans wondered what happened to him and where he went.
Now, the former kids’ show host has spoken out.
“I didn’t know it yet, but I was the happiest depressed person in North America,” the 49-year-old said.
In an interview with Variety, Burns said: “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.”
It was in 1996 when he became the host of Blue’s Clues. He was 22 years old at that time and was also working as a voice actor.
Burns’ easy-going demeanor won over the show’s young viewers and also earned him a Daytime Emmy nomination.
But in 2002, he decided to leave the show and said that his younger brother Joe, portrayed by Donovan Patton, would keep it going.
“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,” he revealed.
Burns said that there was a long period of healing when he left the series but it wasn’t until his father passed away when he began to take things seriously.
“It forced me to reevaluate and take much more seriously my mental health. And New York City never was much good for my mental health,” he went on.
Burns is set to reprise his role in the new film Blue’s Big City Adventure where he will join Patton and also the new host Joshua Dela Cruz.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section and SHARE this story with your friends and family!