Steve Burns is returning to Blue's Clues after more than two decades for a special episode

Steve Burns is returning to the show that made him a household name.

The man who hosted Blue's Clues for years will be doing a special episode more than two decades after he left the show.

The 49-year-old will appear in the episode titled 'The Case of the Missing Thinking Chair' as well be the writer and director for the instalment.

He hosted the show between 1996 and 2002 and many people will remember his face helping Blue find its clues.

Not only will he make his triumphant return to the legendary show, but there will be three hosts on the screen.

Joshua Dela Cruz is the current host of Blue's Clues and Burns was replaced by Donovan Patton when he left in 2002.

Patton, Burns and Dela Cruz will all be trying to find the missing Thinking Chair in this week's episode.

Steve told PEOPLE last year that he keeps in touch with the two blokes who succeeded him on the programme.

"We really are friends. We actually do see each other socially. And we would be friends even if we weren't on the show, I think if we met," he said.

He also opened up about the reason why he decided to leave the show.

Talking about the end of his time at Blue's Clues, he said: "I didn’t know it yet, but I was the happiest depressed person in North America.

"I was struggling with severe clinical depression the whole time I was on that show.

"It was my job to be utterly and completely full of joy and wonder at all times, and that became impossible.

"I was always able to dig and find something that felt authentic to me that was good enough to be on the show, but after years and years of going to the well without replenishing it, there was a cost."

Thankfully, Burns has said he is now in a better place, but he admitted it took him a while to recover.

"My strategy had been: ‘Hey, you got a great thing going, so just fight it'," he said.

"Turns out, you don’t fight depression; you collect it. After I left Blue’s Clues there was a long period of healing.

"It wasn’t until the death of my father that I really started to take things seriously, and my life became so much more manageable."

Looking back, Burns admitted he wishes he sought help for his mental health struggles while he was on the show.

But he did add that he doesn't think that would have meant he continued presenting Blue's Clues.

Topics: TV and Film

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Senior Journalist at LADbible. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign. He is in charge of the LADbible Australia editorial content and social presence.

@stewartperrie