Dark truth behind your toddler’s favourite YouTube show – how Blippi star desperately tried to hide disgusting past

IN his bright orange and blue get-up and with his excitable shrill voice, Blippi – the American TV star adored by my son – has been a constant presence in our house for the past four years.

But I’ve discovered something truly sinister about Blippi which has shocked me to my core. And when I tell you, you’ll be sure to stop your kids watching it too.

Blippi is a hugely popular character on YouTube – aimed to educate kids

Blippi star Stevin John was making very different videos when he first came onlineCredit: Instagram / stevinjohn

Stevin spent hours perfecting the character in order to capture the imagination of kidsCredit: Instagram / stevinjohn

With 26.7million subscribers, £70m in the bank and over 22 billion views, Blippi really is a cultural phenomenon.

While to the children who adore him he’s become a God-like character who dazzles them with videos from a firestation or tutorials on how to use slides at a waterpark, to me – and most other parents I know – his behaviour on screen is bizarre and annoying.

And after deciding to look into the man my child is so obsessed with, I’ve found out some stomach-churning details about his sinister past.

The original Blippi, I discovered, is in fact a former YouTuber called Stevin John, a 37-year-old father-of-one Washington, who is engaged to rising mum influencer Alyssa Ingham.

His first video as Blippi was uploaded to YouTube in 2014 and he became an overnight success.

But Blippi wasn’t Stevin’s first foray online – I found out he had been making videos before that under the name Steezy Grossman.

These videos were aimed at older kids and showed him silly and somewhat dangerous pranks and crude skits.

Unlike the glossy videos of today, these clips were incredibly budget, heavily featuring toilet humour.

It was while watching these clips that I found the video that made me sick to my stomach.

Just one year before launching Blippi, Steezy had shared a truly stomach churning video which saw him doing an explosive diarrhoea over his friend’s naked bum as part of the Harlem Shake meme trend at the time. 

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

This man who makes money teaching our kids how to count, had made this disgusting content for likes.

I wasn’t the only one who was shocked when I found out.

One parent told me: “Everything this man does is done with such purpose. It’s concerning he can have so much control over our kids because we all know there is nothing he won’t do to be successful and I’m not sure that’s the message I want to give my kids.”

Appearing on a podcast – The Vinny Brusco Show – shortly after the video was made, Stevin was clearly delighted that his clip had gone viral and had been seen by millions.

He said: “I think s**t’s gross. But I think it’s funny. That’s the reason why I like s**t in films and s**t: ’cause s**t is funny.”

In the years since, Stevin has worked incredibly hard to have the footage removed from YouTube using copyright law, but unfortunately some copies are still floating around, which I had the misfortune of viewing.

He has addressed the controversy, admitting: “Yes, I did make a gross-out comedy video when I was in my early twenties, long before I started Blippi.”

I can’t say I agree that a few months counts as “long before”, but it’s safe to say that Blippi has been banned in my house ever since.

Having a man demanding my child to ask their parents to like and subscribe to his videos, while shouting: “So much to learn about / It’ll make you want to shout: Blippi!” while knowing his history just doesn’t sit right with me.

Defending this Jackass-esque content, John has said in the past: “At the time, I thought this sort of thing was funny, but really it was stupid and tasteless, and I regret having ever done it.

Clayton Grimm and Ben Mayer have now taken on the role of BlippiCredit: blippi / Instagram

Stevin is concentrating on this family life now he’s found such successCredit: Instagram

 “I’ve grown up a lot since then, and I trust people will see me as the person I am now, not the idiot I was back then.”

And Blippi has done a very good job at keeping his past underwraps and over the last decade the empire has grown to astonishing heights.

In 2020, his content was acquired by Moonbug for a ‘significant’ sum and the deal marked the start of live shows and merchandise being launched.

As demand surged, Stevin struggled to keep up and in 2021 he recruited Clayton Grimm as another Blippi. Later in 2024, Ben Mayer also joined the crew and another character was added – Meekah, played by Kaitlin Becker.

Stevin John as Blippi is well known by parents and toddlersCredit: YouTube

His success as a children’s entertainer eclipsed his previous YouTube streamsCredit: YouTube

Stevin has spoken out about his past online as he now takes a step backCredit: stevinjohn / Instagram

Insiders tell me Stevin has felt able to take a step back now he’s made so much money and the brand is colossal.

“Now he’s a dad it felt like the right time to concentrate on family life. He’s hopefully getting married next year and they want to expand their family,” the insider says.

“His poo history is a thing of the past now and he wants to be seen in the same light as some of the biggest kids’ content creators.”

But I can’t help but feel at the heart of both Blippi and Steezy Grossman is a man desperate for fame and fortune.

With a background in SEO, it seems Stevin used his knowledge to make sure his content was found, over and over again.

He has said in interviews he started the character after noticing his nephew, who was two, enjoyed watching videos about tractors but there were no shows that were educational for kids. 

Nothing about Blippi was accidental – he explained: “I started looking into the science of colours. I brainstormed about 700 to 800 names for the show and started narrowing it down based on trademark, copyright, and domain availability. Next I started drawing up different wardrobe options.”

He made his own merch to start with – and now hundreds of Blippi items are sold across the world – from costumes to soft toys. 

And while his shows may seem innocent on the surface, I won’t allow my child to watch content made by someone who I feel has an agenda I don’t like – or be taught about the world by a man who did such a horrible thing.

Clayton Grimm as Blippi with new character MikahCredit: Instagram/blippi