‘Blue’s Clues’ Star Steve Burns Unpacks Emotional Response to His TikToks (Exclusive)

Steve Burns is opening up about the viral videos that made him a TikTok star decades after he first gained recognition on television as the host of Blue’s Clues.

Burns, 51, spoke to PEOPLE for an exclusive interview in advance of the debut of his new podcast, Alive, which was sparked by the response to his social media posts where he “checked in” on his fans.

His first video racked up millions of views despite him only asking his followers, “How you doing?” 

When asked about the series, in which he does little more than ask questions or listen silently to followers in need of a friend, Burns says many of his posts are very spur-of-the-moment.

“I did nothing on that viral video,” he reflects. “I didn’t do anything. I didn’t even write it, I just improvised it, you know, and [the response] made clear to me that a careful, care-driven, respectful conversation … was a missing thing on your phone in a big way.”

“I think that’s why it punched through,” he adds.

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The former Blue’s Clues star got his start on Nickelodeon’s 1996 hit show at just 22 years old. The program gained immediate success and reached No. 1 shortly after airing. However, in 2000, Burns abruptly left the show when his character went to college, passing the role down to his younger brother, Joe, played by Donovan Patton.

In recent years, Burns has spoken publicly about his own mental health, opening up about how he battled depression around the time he left the show. After he passed the baton to Patton, Burns said an “urban legend” started spreading around the internet that he had actually “died,” which he admitted was “not what you want to hear when you’re severely clinically depressed.”

After dealing with his own mental health struggles, Burns understands the importance of giving people positive outlets — like his TikTok videos, and soon to be, his podcast.

While he says nowadays “people are starting” to get more comfortable talking about such traditionally taboo topics, he notes that there’s more work to be done.

“I think that we do talk about these things with our friends, but the conversation online is pretty messed up,” Burns tells PEOPLE. “And this technology that I keep referencing — this social media, this FaceTime, this phone — it was the promise of connection, right? It was all about community and bringing us together, but it didn’t.”

“It made us lonelier and weirder in a big way and kind of forced us to depersonalize each other and our experiences,” he says.

His new podcast, he adds, works to “humanize this experience and these common struggles,” focusing on topics like death, finances and sex — things everyone deals with, but not always publicly.

Burns’ new podcast, Alive, debuting September 17 from Lemonada Media, will see him connect with guests as diverse as hospice nurses, elected officials, and celebrities. New episodes will be released weekly on all platforms and video will be available on YouTube.