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Steve Burns never exactly aspired to become Steve from Blue's Clues. When he first entered show business, he earned some early credits on NBC's cop shows like Law & Order and Homicide: Life on the Street, of which he even played a high school student suspected of murdering a bully. Meanwhile, up-and-coming producers Angela Santomero and Traci Paige Johnson were in their early 20s and working at Nickelodeon. After meeting one another, they discovered that they both harbored a deep passion for developing a series that would educate preschoolers.
The two then approached the top brass at Nickelodeon with the idea that their vision would turn into Blue's Clues. Nickelodeon allowed them to run with their project. The series debuted in 1996, becoming the first children's cable show built around directly addressing a preschool audience and inviting them to play along to solve many mysteries. The original host of Blue's Clues, Steve Burns, has amassed a great fortune thanks to the series. Here is how the Blue's Clues guy really spends his sizable fortune.
How The 'Blue's Clues' Guy Spends His $11 Million Net Worth
Steve Burns's annual salary is roughly $1 million, with an estimated net worth of $11 million. Thanks to this, he listed his Brooklyn, New York home for $3.4 million. The two-bedroom, two-bath property includes two terraces, old-timey trunks as coffee tables, and beautiful interior windows. In addition, this 2,000-square-foot converted garage has an 87-foot hallway and a 28-foot tall ceiling. According to Dwell, The New York Magazine described the property as "one of the coolest abodes in the city."
On his Instagram account, Steve likes sharing his hobbies with fans, such as traveling and taking pictures. Antarctica and Italy are his favorite destinations. Undoubtedly, he spends a considerable amount on trips and high-resolution cameras.
'Blue's Clues' Became The Highest-Rated Show For Preschoolers
Blue's Clues became a surprise smash hit, beating both Sesame Street and Barney in the ratings and paving the way for future Nickelodeon series like Dora the Explorer. Looking back at the legacy left by the series today Alison Bryant, author of The Children's Television Community, told The New York Times, "The fact that all TV shows today have educational curriculum consultants is definitely because of Blue's Clues." But whenever someone has a media property this influential, there's almost always a dark side bubbling underneath the surface, and Blue's Clues was no exception to this.
When Did Steve Leave 'Blue's Clues'?
Without a doubt Blue's Clues' host Steve was one of the biggest selling points of the series. Kids loved him, but that doesn't mean that Steve always loved what he was doing. Speaking with The New York Times in 1999, Steve told them, "When I was in college, I just to sit around and talk about the importance of Samuel Beckett, James Joyce, and David Mamet. Now, I sit around and discuss the importance of Grover's early work [From Sesame Street]."
Despite his career not initially panning out as he might have expected, Steve played the part of a good soldier and stuck with the series for six years. Before the actor's departure from the show, wild rumors began circulating that he had passed away from various causes. Some said that Steve had died in a car accident; others said the actor had died of an overdose. It was such a mess that Steve had to make an appearance on various daytime talk shows to show the world that he was indeed still alive.
Steve would leave Blue's Clues from 2000, but due to how their filming and release schedule worked at the time, the episodes he filmed continued to air until 2002. At that point, Donovan Patton was brought to play Joe, Steve's younger brother.
Here's Where 'Blue's Clues' Host Steve Burns Is Now
After his departure, Steve would start crossing things off his bucket list, recording songs with the backing of Flaming Lips guitarist Steven Drozd called Songs for Dustmites and Foreverywhere. Then in the late 2010s, when the nostalgia wave for 90s properties hit an all-time high, both Blue's Clues and Steve would pop back into fans' lives in a pretty big way.
First, the series returned with a slight title change; the show is now called Blue's Clues & You. And while neither Steve nor Donovan would replace to host new episodes, Steve was brought on board as a producer, writer, and consultant. He was also integral in helping select the man that would replace him, Joshua Dela Cruz, who beat out 3,000 other applicants to land this fantastic opportunity.
Joshua grew up a huge fan of the show, and he used to watch it with his younger sister. Now he gets to host each new episode and also anchor the up-and-coming movie that's being released in celebration of the series' 25th anniversary. That's not the only way the series celebrates 25 years: They also had Steve record an update that finally explained his departure from fans' lives and apologized for leaving them. He admitted that he left the show to pursue a music career.