‘I never forgot you’: Steve Burns’ ‘Blue’s Clues’ message freaks out fans

“Hi, you got a second?”

Yes, Steve. Yes, we do.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary, Nickelodeon’s beloved children’s series “Blue’s Clues” has pulled out all the stops, including original host Steve Burns.

After his sudden departure from the show in 2002, which broke the hearts of toddlers and tweens across the nation, Burns is back — and this time with an explanation in a video from Nick Jr., Nickelodeon’s preschool programming channel.

“Can we just talk about that?” Burns said of his exit, followed by his signature brief pause for a response. “Because I realize that was kind of abrupt. I just kinda got up and went to college.”

With his two-minute message, Burns filled out a gaping hole in the childhoods of fans who grew up with the show, which was rebooted as “Blue’s Clues & You” in 2019. After clueing viewers in on his “challenging but great” journey, Burns commended them for all of their help and great feats in the meantime.

“And then look at you and look at all you have done and all you have accomplished in all that time,” Burns said. “I guess I just wanted to say that after all these years, I never forgot you. Ever. And I’m super glad we’re still friends.”

Across social media, diehard fans poured their hearts out, reminiscing about simpler times with Mr. Salt, Mrs. Pepper and Paprika, reveling in much-needed closure after so many years.

Cue the virtual waterworks and deluge of memes.

“Steve giving us closure healed me from a hurt inside that I didn’t know I had,” tweeted one fan.

Another tweeted, “I ain’t get the kinda motivation & encouragement that Steve gave in a VERY long time.” Another wrote, “‘You look great by the way! Whatever you’re doing it’s working.’ hit harder than ‘I love you 3000.’”

“Hearing Steve from Blues Clues say he’s proud of me is all the motivation I need to get through the rest of the week,” tweeted another fan.

Writer Njera Perkins shared on Twitter, “I think this Blue’s Clues anniversary rollout is just proof that we don’t necessarily need reboots for shows we used to love, just a little closure for the ones that ended abruptly.”

And former Disney star Laura Marano wrote, “I’m feeling so many feelings after that blues clues steve video…”

So are we, Laura.