Why Steve Burns says this 'Blue's Clues' catchphrase to kids used to 'concern' him

Original "Blue's Clues" host Steve Burns had fans feeling nostalgic when he delivered a commencement speech at SUNY Delhi in New York on May 18.

Videos of Burns, 50, speaking to the crowd of new college graduates have surfaced on TikTok.

One clip, shared by @umbrella.memes2, shows the former Nickelodeon star reminiscing about "Blue's Clues," which followed Burns’ upbeat character Steve who “hung out with an animated puzzle-solving puppy who was blue and also named Blue.”

"I had meaningful conversations with my condiments, I sang songs with a bar of soap, and when the mail showed up, dude, I freaked out. I went crazy, I sang songs and jumped into the air," Burns recalled as the new grads chuckled.

The show, which debuted in September 1996 on Nickelodeon, was all about Burns' character looking for clues to mysteries that “were painfully obvious to everyone" but him.

“And that’s where you came in, my friend,” Burns said to the crowd. “In each and every episode, I would need your help and so I would stand in front of the camera and look into the lens as if I was looking right at you, my ride or die, and I would ask, ‘Will you help me?’"

Burns, who hosted "Blue's Clues" until the early 2000s, said he's regularly approached by former viewers who tell him how much the show meant to them as kids.

He also told the crowd that he has long had a "concern" about a motivational phrase he would say to his preschool viewers, who he called a “very literal group of people."

"Very often, someone will repeat to me a phrase that I said all the time on every episode,” said Burns. “And that’s, ‘If you use your mind and take a step at a time, you can do anything that you wanna do.’”

Burns then shared contents of a "favorite" fan letter from a young viewer named Brian who wrote, "Dear Steve, I love your show. I want to be a pizza."

Burns then joked, “As the years passed, I’ve often thought of Brian, worried that he’s lived his life according to my advice in pursuit of the dream of actually becoming a piece of pizza. And I wonder if Brian is out there somewhere deeply disappointed, covered in marinara sauce. And I hope that he’s not.”

Burns told the new graduates that he always meant for the upbeat catchphrase to be “an empowering reminder of the power of hard work” and an “empowering reminder of the importance of having a dream," which are messages he wanted to remind them of as adults.

Burns' inspiring speech touched fans' heartstrings.

"We don't deserve Steve Burns," one wrote in the comments.

"This is how you do a commencement speech. Inspiring people going forward and encouraging them in such a pure spirit," noted another.

The former Nickelodeon star's appearance at SUNY Delhi's graduation ceremony comes nearly two months after he spoke to TODAY.com about the legacy of "Blue's Clues."

Burns said he struggled with "severe clinical depression" that was undiagnosed when he originally hosted the show and initially felt "enormously miscast" and "enormously unqualified" to appear on kids television.

He looks back now and understands what "an outrageous gift" the show has been to both him and viewers. "I couldn’t have asked for anything cooler," he said.

Though he's kept busy working as a writer and director on other projects, Burns has made time to appear as a guest on the reboot "Blue’s Clues & You!," and also regularly checks in with fans on TikTok.

"I love doing that. I love being Steve more than I ever have," Burns shared. "But what I really love is this idea of just simply continuing the authentic conversation that we started a million years ago."

This article was originally published on TODAY.com