Things That Came Out About Richard Simmons After He Died

Before it became a lucrative industry and a way of life for millions, fitness, health, and self-improvement were synonymous with one man: Richard Simmons. He truly, earnestly, honestly wanted to help humanity, but he knew that a little flash and entertainment went a long way. For decades, the seemingly ageless and forever tireless Simmons yelled, danced, and encouraged his way through exercise classes at his prominent studio and on morning talk shows, his own "The Richard Simmons Show," and in his line of popular "Sweatin' to the Oldies" exercise videos. Simmons certainly helped a lot of people, and while he may have been mocked for his over-the-top personality and skimpy tank top and short shorts, he was nearly universally beloved.

He was always there, for so long, and for so many, that it was shocking when he suddenly retired in 2014, and even more so when the paragon of health died in 2024. Simmons was so focused on others that little of his personal life was well-known, apart from a terrifying medical emergency on the set of David Letterman's show and a feud over a potential biopic. After he died, those who knew him best shared some nuggets with the world about the real person. Here's everything we've since learned about the sometimes tragic life of Richard Simmons.

Richard Simmons was a prominent public figure for about 40 years, appearing on TV talk shows, starring in infomercials, and leading exercise classes at his own facilities, or in his bestselling videos. That all ended abruptly and all at once in 2014, when Simmons decided to spend more time in the comfort of his large Los Angeles home. Simmons classified his pulling back from live engagements as a retirement, but he didn't quit his passion for trying to assist others on their journeys to better physical and mental health. 

"People don't know this, I'm really a shy person and a little bit of an introvert, Simmons told People in his final interview, published after he died in 2024. "Here at home, I get up every day and help people. Because my work is very serious." Simmons explained that on a daily basis, he personally answered at least 100 emails from fans and those who reached out, and placed a number of phone calls when that was necessary. 

Nor did Simmons ever permanently retreat inward. "I do leave the house sometimes. But I'm in disguise," he said. House manager Teresa Reveles said that Simmons wasn't recognizable to the public because he wouldn't speak and would wear an identity-concealing mask, wig, and glasses.

We rarely heard from Richard Simmons in the 2010s and 2020s. He retired from the part of his job that required him to get in front of crowds and perform exercise routines because he couldn't physically do that any longer. As he aged into his 60s and 70s, Simmons experienced the natural body degradation that generally accompanies aging, and it affected his work. "He could not exercise. He could not teach his class," Simmons' long-time companion and house manager Teresa Reveles told People after the fitness celebrity's death in 2024. 

He tried to keep going for as long as he could, but he couldn't defeat the pain and lack of function in his knees. He underwent one knee replacement surgery and was considered another when the first one didn't completely relieve his problems. In 2014, finding himself no longer able to jump, Simmons decided to quit.

Simmons also experienced discomfort with the way his appearance had changed the older he became. That made him overly self-conscious and contributed to his decision to adopt a more private life. "He thought he looked too old," Reveles said, adding that Simmons would tell her, "I don't want people to see me. I don't look that beautiful anymore, Teresa."

On Thursday, July 11, 2024, Richard Simmons prepared for bed, but during the process, he suffered a fall in the bathroom next to his bedroom. Later that day, he fell and took to bed. The morning of his birthday, he said, "Teresa, I can't go down, my legs hurt a lot." His house manager, cook, and companion, Teresa Reveles, assisted Simmons back to his feet and made sure that he was alright, and he went to sleep. He wasn't altogether fine: The fitness expert reported feeling disoriented, and the next morning, he wasn't able to get out of bed, complaining of severe pain in both of his legs. Theorizing that there was some kind of broken bone, Reveles strongly urged Simmons to seek out progressional medical help. He didn't want to go to a hospital, on account of how it was his 76th birthday. 

As Simmons said he was open to heading out the next day, Reveles didn't pursue the idea of urgent medical attention any further. Sometime over the following night, Simmons fell again, as on the floor next to his bed is where he was found the next morning.

Richard Simmons was found unresponsive on the floor of his bedroom by his house manager, Teresa Reveles, on the morning of July 13, 2024. She immediately knew that he was dead, but made some other observations about the situation as well. "When I saw him he looked peaceful," Reveles told People, adding that Simmons' fists had been clenched. "That's why I know it was a heart attack. I had a heart attack a few years ago, and my hands did the same." Authorities summoned via a 911 call pronounced Simmons' death.

It would take an investigation by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner to determine if Reveles was correct, and she was, but partially so. About a month after Simmons died at his LA home at the age of 76, arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease — or hardened walls of the arteries the heart uses to move blood around the body — was listed as a responsible factor. Simmons officially died from damage sustained by blunt traumatic injuries sustained during his bathroom fall two days earlier.

Two days before his unexpected death in 2024, People interviewed Richard Simmons. Throughout the lengthy conversation, Simmons looked back on his life and accomplishments and how he felt that he fit into the timeline of Americans' relationship with their health. He had a lot of thoughts in particular on the ever-changing cultures of weight loss, a system he helped establish in the 1970s and 1980s with his fitness studios, health food restaurant, and body of televisual work. He both underplayed his work and lamented how there was more progress to be made. "When I retired, I thought someone else was going to take my place. That somebody would open up studios for people who needed to lose weight or didn't feel good about themselves, but I haven't seen that," he said in the article, distributed after he died. "I mean, there's always been places for fit people."

Simmons also commented on the modern weight-loss solutions of surgeries and advanced medications. "If someone's taking a shot to lose weight, that is not my business," he said. "Once you get to a certain age, weight is pretty hard to lose. I never advise people to do phony things."

Following a solid decade in which he made zero public or filmed appearances, Richard Simmons was ready to re-emerge for his late second act in 2024. In the weeks before he died, he'd personally arranged to tape a major television interview with his friend, high-profile journalist Diane Sawyer. That sit-down hadn't been captured, let alone announced, before Simmons' death in July 2024. 

Two days before he died, Simmons knocked out an interview with People, which wasn't able to publish its lengthy feature profile of the celebrity until after his death. One of the biggest revelations from that chat was that Simmons had been working hard on a biographical stage musical. "I've written 14 songs for a Broadway show. And I'm working with an amazing man — Patrick Leonard," Simmons revealed. "I write the lyrics, and he writes the music. The whole show is about my life — from selling pralines in New Orleans at a candy store when I was a kid to when I decided to retire."