Exclusive Interview: Josh Dela Cruz Chats A Blue’s Clues Festival of Lights

Blue’s Clues & You! is getting into the holiday spirit with A Blue’s Clues Festival of Lights.

In A Blue’s Clues Festival of Lights, a special guest comes to Periwinkle’s house to celebrate Chanukah. Host Josh Dela Cruz and Blue play Blue’s Clues to figure out who it is and celebrate the holiday by spinning dreidels, frying latkes, and performing an original Chanukah song.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Josh about A Blue’s Clues Festival of Lights, how he plans to celebrate the holidays, and how the franchise is teaming up with Save the Children for a good cause.

PC: Blue’s Clues & You has a new holiday special dropping very soon. What can fans expect from A Blue’s Clues Festival of Lights?
Josh: A Blue’s Clues Festival of Lights is full of some classic Hanukkah games. We are spinning dreidels. We’re frying up some latkes. We get to sing an incredible original Hanukkah song that’s so fun. We get to sing with a special character that we’re playing Blue’s Clues to figure out the identity of. I’m so happy to be part of this and to be able to use this as a springboard for families at home to learn more about Hanukkah and to continue to learn about other cultures and religions around the world and how they celebrate their special time of year!

PC: Nickelodeon and Blue’s Clues & You are continuing their partnership with Save the Children. What has it meant to you to be a part of a project that does so much good?
Josh: There are a lot of shows that come back for the pure nostalgia factor. While our show is heavy on the nostalgia factor because a lot of our original viewers are parents now, the mission has always been to help kids prepare for preschool and the rest of their lives. We do that by starting from the ground level—and that’s research.

Since our show premiered 25 years ago, there has been 25 years of new research on how kids learn and what methods are best suited for today’s kids. That’s where our show starts. Every script, every note that I get on set, everything that our animators work with is based on research, and what better way to do that than by partnering with Save the Children, who already has an incredible history of helping kids and making sure that they get the learning opportunities that they need in safe environments?

Now, thanks to the World Wide Web, parents can go to cluedintolearning.com and can find activities and learning materials to help kids in math, science, what have you. I’m so happy that this show started off with such a noble cause and that it’s following through with it on the network as well.

PC: Great answer. You’re also gearing up to perform at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. What can you tease about your upcoming performance? How are you getting ready for that?
Josh: I’m getting ready for it by trying to wrap my mind around what thirteen pounds of glitter looks like. [laughs] Because they were like, “Thirteen pounds of glitter!” I was like, “Thirteen pounds of what?” [laughs] Blue is going to be covered in thirteen pounds of glitter, which probably means that I will be covered in about five pounds of glitter. But I will not be shouldering that glitter by myself because I get to perform “You Can’t Spell Blue without YOU” with Steve Burns and Donovan Patton, the original hosts of the show. I’m so, so excited because not only do we get to perform this amazing song that celebrates everyone at home and to say thank you to everyone at home, but I get to do it with two people that I now call friends. Two people that I watched growing up. It’s crazy that we’re friends.

PC: Growing up, you always dreamed of hosting Blue’s Clues and you’ve been doing it for a couple of years now. Has anything surprised you about the experience?
Josh: We’re filming our fourth season now, and the format of our show is pretty standard in that we always play Blue’s Clues. There are always three clues, and there’s always a think-through at the end. There are always two main games within the show. I’ve filmed over sixty episodes. I love coming to work every day, and I’m always learning something new. I never thought that I would feel that way about my job, but I feel so lucky that whenever I come to work, I know that a few things are going to happen: I’m going to have a genuine laugh, I’m going to be able to connect with my crew (who is my family while we’re filming), and I’m going to learn something new. To be able to do all of those things while being challenged makes me the happiest person in the world.

PC: With the holiday season upon us, do you have any favorite traditions that you share with your friends and family?
Josh: Being a New York resident most of my adult life, I’ve always lived with my family in small apartments. We’re always working as well. So we’ve never really been able to go out and get a tree or decorate or really enjoy any of that. When I was in Aladdin on Broadway, we had one day to celebrate. It’s doable to get a tree in New York City, but it’s a little bit tricky, especially when you’re dealing with a walk-up. But last year, my wife and I found ourselves getting a tree for the very first time. We got to decorate and enjoy it. I’m very much looking forward to that. I’m very much looking forward to making stuffing because I could sit down with a giant plate of stuffing and gravy. I don’t know if there’s anything better than that.

To keep up with Josh, follow him on Instagram. Watch A Blue’s Clues Festival of Lights on November 26th at 12/11c on Nickelodeon.

Photo Credit: Dela Cruz Photography