05-05-2025
Blue's Clue star hints his salary was less than an average waiter... 23 years after he left show
Steve Burns famously produced and hosted the popular children's show Blue's Clues from 1996 until 2002, but it turns out Nickelodeon bosses were surprisingly stingy with his salary.
'Every waiter I ever knew made more money than I did for the first many seasons of that show,' the 51-year-old Young Sheldon actor revealed on Rainn Wilson's Soul Boom podcast last Thursday.
'But I was really fortunate because my real gig - Blue's Clues was my side hustle forever - was I was a voice-over guy. I fell into that early so I was doing kind of voiceover stuff for commercials, which kind of sustained me but, man, it was it was grim for a long time.'
At the time, Steve - who suffered from clinical depression - was living 'in a hallway [in Manhattan]. I built like a little shelf in a hallway between two tiny bedrooms.'
Nick Jr. reportedly only gave Blue's Clues creators Traci Paige Johnson, Todd Kessler, and Angela C. Santomero $150K to produce the 1994 pilot - about a quarter of the budget for other shows at the time.
They were initially looking for a female host, but Burns was the best candidate after over 1K auditions despite him having long hair and an earring at the time.
'I had an audition for what I thought was going to be the voice of a cartoon on a children's television show,' the preschool presenter recalled.
'And when I got there, there was a camera in the room, and I thought, "Oh s***, I better do something. And so I looked at the script, and I figured...I'm going to act the s*** out of this.'
Steve was a natural - charming the young millennials and their parents alike as a fictionalized version of himself for six years, shooting nearly 100 episodes.
In 2001, Burns announced his exit before being nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for outstanding performer in a children's series, which ultimately went to Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton.
The Mighty Little Man singer was replaced by actor Donovan Patton, who played Steve's brother Joe for the final two seasons until Blue's Clues concluded in 2006.
Josh Dela Cruz, who plays the cousin of Steve and Joe, currently hosts Traci Paige Johnson and Angela C. Santomero's revival Blue's Clues & You! now in its fifth season on YouTube.
Steve served as a consulting producer for the revival until 2022, and even directed five episodes.
Since 2021, Burns has been reconnecting with fans through his 4.3M TikTok/Instagram following as well as attending numerous conventions.
The New York-based Pennsylvanian, Donovan Patton, and Josh Dela Cruz are all scheduled to appear at Motor City Comic Con 2025 taking place May 16-18 in Novi, MI where photos and autographs cost between $50-$200.
