Richard Simmons has been out of the public eye since 2014. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
You just don’t hear much about Richard Simmons these days, and speculation has run rampant about just what has been going on with the famed fitness guru since he faded from the public eye several years ago.
But Simmons’ 75th birthday just rolled around and his rep, Tom Estey, provided a rare update on how the star is doing to “Entertainment Tonight.”
“This is a big milestone,” Estey told ET. “I just want to see him happy, which he is.
“He’s doing very well,” he continued. “He’s his jovial self. He spends most of his time at home and in his yard. 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.”
ET said Simmons stopped teaching at his workout studio in 2014, and has been out of the public eye since.
There were rumors back in 2016 that his housekeeper was holding him hostage. He called into “Today” back then to deny those claims.
“No one is holding me in my house as a hostage,” Simmons said, per ET. “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!
“I just sort of wanted to be a little bit of a loner for a little while,” he said. “You know, I had hurt my knee, and I had some problems with it, and then the other knee started giving me trouble because I’ve taught like thousands and thousands of classes, and you know right now I just want to sort of take care of me.”
ET said Simmons told “Today” that he just didn’t “want to do anything.”
“I just don’t want to be traveling anymore,” he said. “It certainly has taken its toll on me, so it was not like over a day, it was just over some time.
“For all the people worrying about me, I want to tell them that I love them with my whole heart and soul and that not to worry, Richard’s fine. You haven’t seen the last of me, I’ll come back, and I’ll come back strong.”
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