Blue's Clues OG Host Steve Burns Addresses Death Rumors: 'That Hurt, To Be Honest'

The original host of Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues is very much alive and well, and even recently reconnected with the show. However, in the early 2000s some people falsely claimed online that he was not.

In fact, people believed he died in a tragic and mysterious death.

"Everyone thought I was dead for a while," he told the New York Times in an interview published Sept. 18, noting it made him a kind of an urban legend. "That hurt, to be honest. And it kind of messed me up because that was happening while the internet was just sort of beginning to internet. No one, including myself, was kind of prepared for the degree of consensus that it represented."

"When a zillion, trillion people all think you're dead for 15 years, it freaks you out."

Steve was the star and host of the Nickelodeon children's television show Blue's Clues from 1996 to 2002. Following his departure from the show, the rumors began and followed him for years. It was one of the reasons why he decided to remain off social media and out of the public eye.

However, the 50-year-old finally put the rumors to rest when he re-emerged on social media a few years ago.

The original host addressed his exit in a video shared to Twitter in honor of the show's 25th anniversary.

"I didn't write it," Steve said of the video that saw the alum explain his departure from the series. "I just kind of stood in front of the camera and said what was on my mind. I wanted to continue the conversation that I started a zillion years ago with everyone."

The video tugged on the heart-strings of those who watched Blue's Clues with Steve when they were children and were now well into their adult lives.

"You remember how, when we were younger, we used to run around, and hang out with Blue, and find clues, and talk to Mr. Salt, and freak out about the mail and do all the fun stuff?" he recalled while wearing his traditional green shirt in the video. "And then one day, I was like, 'Oh hey, guess what? Big news. I'm leaving! This is my brother Joe. He's your new best friend.' And then I got on a bus and I left and we didn't see each other for, like, a really long time? Can we just talk about that?"

Since the video was posted, Steve jumps onto social media every now and again to keep in touch with his fans' mental health.

In a recent video, Steve simply sat and asked how his followers were and pretended to hear their response and nodded along. Fans were quick to share with Steve what they had been getting up to -- both the happy moments in their lives along with the sad ones.