"I'm just happy to see a lot of people are this excited for a black host on this show," Yedoye Travis said.
Yedoye Travis had no idea that his tongue-in-cheek tweet about becoming the next
Blue's Clues host would gain any traction. The 26-year-old comedian and actor tweeted about hosting
Blue's Clues in June 2017, and now he says he's actually had the opportunity to audition for the role.
Travis'
Blue's Clues Twitter conversation started when he tweeted that he could possibly become the show's next "Steve," or host. "They said if I get enough retweets they will bring back
Blue's Clues and I can be Steve," he wrote last year.
Travis' tweet has garnered more than 150,000 retweets and more than 100,000 likes. He told
Blavity that it all stemmed from a joke.
"I was shooting with Comedy Central at their Hudson building where Nickelodeon also is," he wrote in an email to
Blavity in which he shared the origin of the viral tweet. "I just noticed they had the thinking chair in their break room so I took the picture..." He added, "Obviously I asked for retweets, but I thought it was clear I was kidding, at least at the time. The internet and Nickelodeon respectfully disagreed."
The universe appeared to have worked somewhat in Travis's favor since his photo on the show's signature "thinking chair" last year. Nickelodeon announced the show's reboot for a 20-episode order last month, which is slated to
premiere on the network in 2019. The show held a open casting call for the hosting role on April 14 at Nickelodeon Studios in Burbank, California, where over 1000 people auditioned to be the next host of
Blue's Clues.
Travis told
Blavity that since his viral tweet,
Blue's Clues reached out, and he auditioned for the role last week. He claimed he was offered a callback for later this month on Wednesday. Once again, Travis took to Twitter to announce the news of his callback and to request that
Lip Sync Battle host Chrissy Teigen acknowledge his tweet:
Teigen indeed responded:
Which, in turn, garnered a reply from '90s Nickelodeon star Danny Tamberelli (
The Adventures of Pete & Pete,
All That,
Figure It Out):
And the official Nickelodeon Animation Twitter account:
He said he "lost it" when he learned of the retweet.
Nickelodeon sources recently named Teigen as one of their
dream celebrity hosts for
Blue's Clues.
"I was hosting a show when I found out so I told a room of about 200 people about it with no context at all," he said. "And I mostly just think she's hilarious and it's dope to be on her radar, but also Twitter is mostly about her."
Travis told Blavity that his long-term goals center around comedy.
"I have an album online already, and I'd like to be able to keep doing that as long as I can stand."
But if Nickelodeon works in his favor, he's happy to put on for the youth.
"If I can establish myself as a more versatile performer while also giving black and brown kids someone to look up to, I'm all for it," he said. "I'm just happy to see a lot of people are this excited for a black host on this show."
Representing for the children is key, however, a certain Bronx native also attracted him to the role.
"Well I found out Cardi B was having a baby, and I really need that baby to like me," Travis said. "I'm sure you understand. Also I grew up thinking paprika was just salt and pepper mixed together because of this show, and I'd really like to set the record straight on that."
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