His life changed after getting an anonymous letter. “One dark, rainy day I went to my car and found a note. It said, ‘Dear Richard, you’re very funny, but fat people die young. Please don’t die.” He was so stunned that he went on the starvation diet that left him thin but very ill.
After the crash diet he gained back 65 pounds. Eventually, he was able to devise a sensible plan to take off the pounds and keep them off. “I went into the business because I couldn’t find anything I liked,” he said.
When Simmons hadn’t been seen in public for several years, some news outlets speculated that he was being held hostage in his own house. In telephone interviews with Entertainment Tonight and the Today show, Simmons refuted the claims and told his fans he was enjoying the time by himself. Filmmaker-writer Dan Taberski, one of his regular students, launched a podcast in 2017 called Missing Richard Simmons.
In 2022, Simmons broke his six-year silence, with his spokesperson telling The New York Post that the beloved fitness icon was “living the life he has chosen”.
One of the online tributes after Simmons’ passing was from actor-comedian Pauly Shore, who previously developed an unauthorised biopic of Simmons, which Simmons objected to at the time.
“I just got word like everyone else that the beautiful Richard Simmons has passed,” he began in an Instagram post. “I hope you’re at peace and twinkling up in the heavens”, adding “You’re one of a kind, Richard. An amazing life. An amazing story.”