Steve Burns is giving dejected Nickelodeon fans a safe space to process their feelings.
The former “Blue’s Clues” host published a soothing TikTok video Thursday and did what few else have been doing since the disturbing allegations from “Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV” caused public outrage: He asked them how they were doing.
“Hey, I’m checking in,” he said in the video. “Tell me, what’s going on?”
The post has more than 500,000 likes and went viral on multiple platforms as Burns, who hosted children’s show “Blue’s Clues” from 1996 to 2002, served as a reassuring presence for viewers hurt by “Quiet on Set.”
The four-part series chronicled the alleged abuses of multiple Nickelodeon staffers and saw former child stars such as Drake Bell identify as survivors. The documentary has since caused severe fallout among fans, infighting among actors and a tarnished trip down memory lane.
Burns sat in silence for nearly one minute in his video and simulated listening to saddened fans while the dulcet and ethereal sounds of Sigur Rós, an Icelandic band, scored the virtual therapy session.
“Steve from Blues Clues posting this after the Nickelodeon documentary, he knew exactly what we needed,” wrote one person on X (formerly Twitter), with another stating: “steve really realizes that sometimes only he can check in on the kids he raised. it’s something.”
Those “kids he raised,” who are now full-grown adults, echoed that gratitude on TikTok.
“They need you. The kids who are grown now who watched Nickelodeon,” wrote one fan, with another adding: “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?”
Burns was 22 years old when he was hired by Nickelodeon to host “Blue’s Clues,” which spanned six seasons and aired from 1996 to 2006. He left in 2002 to go to college, and was replaced by Donovan Patton, but he never forgot his role — to listen.
“All right, well, it’s good to hear from you,” he said at the end of his video Thursday.
Burns notably revealed in 2022 that he stepped away from the lucrative job because he was “struggling with severe clinical depression the whole time” — and added that it “became impossible” to be “utterly and completely full of joy and wonder at all times.”
“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, there was a cost,” he told Variety at the time.
While Burns has made these simulated tele-therapy videos before, he’s only published 31 clips since joining TikTok in 2021.
Need help? Visit RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Online Hotline or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center’s website.