Richard Simmons was everywhere in the 80s, but after 2014 he disappeared. Rumors, which he denied, swirled that he was being held hostage by his housekeeper.
He spoke out explaining no one was holding him against his will, he was simply enjoying some alone time. Although as weeks, months, and years passed without a public sighting his fans grew more and more concerned about his well-being.
However, now everyone can take a collective sigh of relief as the fitness guru’s representative has shared a rare update on Simmons’ 75th birthday.
“This is a big milestone. I just want to see him happy, which he is,” Tom Estey told ET.Estey’s update echos what a friend shared on Simmons’ 70th birthday in 2018.
“He’s doing very well. He’s his jovial self. He spends most of his time at home and in his yard,” the friend said. “He keeps up with his reading and does what he wants to do. He deserves this time to himself. Seventy years is a milestone but he doesn’t look at it that way.”
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA – JUNE 09: Fitness personality Richard Simmons attends 2013 LA Gay Pride Festival – Day 3 on June 9, 2013 in West Hollywood, California. (Photo by Rodrigo Vaz/Getty Images)
In 2014, Simmons mysteriously disappeared from the public eye when he stopped teaching at his workout studio.
Two years later he called into Today to combat claims that he was being held hostage by his housekeeper.
“No one is holding me in my house as a hostage,” he said at the time. “You know, I do what I want to do as I’ve always done so people should sort of just believe what I have to say because, like, I’m Richard Simmons!”
Simmons explained he wanted to be a “loner” for a bit as he recovered from injuries he suffered while teaching “thousands and thousands of classes.”
In 2017, the Sweatin’ to the Oldies star was hospitalized, but reassured fans he was simply “just a little under the weather.”
Following the airing of a 2022 documentary that focused on his whereabouts since his rise to fame, Simmons posted a message on Facebook thanking his fans for their support.
“Thank you, everyone, for your kindness and love! Love, Richard.”