You would be hard pressed to find someone in America that didn't remember one of television's
foremost infomercial superstars, Richard Simmons.
Born Milton Teagle Simmons on the 12th of July, 1948, Richard began his weight-loss
career when he established a gym in Beverly Hills in the 1970s.
Around that time, he adopted his professional name and started catering his high-energy,
eccentric, and endearingly flamboyant services to well-off, overweight LA residents.
In time, Simmons became widely known throughout the US for his television infomercials, in
which he promoted a number of popular consumer products and fitness programs.
Given his over-the-top persona, Simmons became a frequent target of parody and satire and
was frequently invited to be a guest on late-night TV and radio talk shows, such as The Howard
Stern Show and the Late Show With David Letterman.
In the 90s in particular, it seemed as if every time you turned on your television sets,
you'd see Simmons shining mug, light brown afro, and those ridiculously short short-shorts.
Into the 2000s, Simmons continued to promote health and exercise through his long, successful
career as a public figure.
He eventually broadened his horizons by tossing political activism into his laundry list of
high-profile activities.
For example, in 2008, he raised awareness for a bill that aimed to mandate physical
education in public schools as an extension of the No Child Left Behind Act.
In recent years, however, Simmons appears to have dropped out of the public eye.
His last public appearance was in February 2014 and by 2016, concerned fans began to
speculate about his well-being and health.
In response to these concerns, both Simmons and his publicist have issued statements stating
that such concerns are unwarranted and that he has merely chosen to be less visible intentionally
to focus on his personal life.
While many took what Simmons had to say pertaining to his departure from the limelight at face
value, there is some evidence that appears to suggest that something more serious is
preventing Simmons from being as publicly visible as he once was.
Join Facts Verse as we attempt to get to the bottom of this matter by discussing the tragic
congenital disability that allegedly sent Richard Simmons into hiding.
What Ever Happened To Richard Simmons?
The health and fitness guru first took an active interest in healthy living not long
after moving to LA in the '70s while he was working as a Maitre d at a popular dining
establishment called Derek's Restaurant.
He went from being morbidly obese to losing 123 pounds, but in the process, he discovered
that many established gyms at the time seemed to primarily cater to people that were already
physically fit as opposed to those who were desirous of breaking unhealthy habits.
That realization is precisely what inspired him to establish his own exercise studio,
which he dubbed The Anatomy Asylum.
Eventually, he would rename the gym Slimmons.
The Asylum's aim was to make fitness fun while attempting to reinforce a positive culture
that would focus on promoting healthy eating habits and engaging with its members' exercise
routines.
Simmons spirited enthusiasm and his signature flamboyant cheerfulness played a considerable
role in transforming his humble gym into the massive fitness empire that it eventually
became.
Many consider Simmons to be a major game-changer in the fitness world and given his iconic
public reputation, it's safe to say that he is one of the best-known fitness moguls in
the world.
Richard would go on to appear in dozens of TV talk shows and fitness programs, and he
even landed a few roles in fictional films and TV shows as well over the years.
For instance, he enjoyed a four-year run on General Hospital in which he played his effervescently
bubbly, fitness-loving self.
In the early 1980s, Simmons was even awarded an Emmy for hosting his very own talk show,
The Richard Simmons Show as well as a food program called Slim Cookin'.
Additionally, he appeared in dozens of commercials, including those for such brands as Herbal
Essences, SportsCenter, and Yoplait.
For SportsCenter, ESPN hired him as a conditioning coach in 2007.
Outside of the small screen, Simmons hosted a program on Sirius satellite radio called
Lighten Up with Richard Simmons, which aired from 2006 to 2008.
It's hard to think of any other fitness personality that was or is as prolific as Richard Simmons.
For decades, it seemed as if the guy was everywhere.
He would pop up in the public eye virtually anywhere you looked, becoming a beacon of
happiness and a friendly reminder that watching your weight and living a healthy lifestyle
didn't have to be something dreadful.
So, what happened?
We haven't seen Richard Simmons in a while now.
Like we mentioned at the outset of this video, many have raised concerns over Simmons' well-being
in recent times.
For 42 years, Richard led a fitness empire that was consistently thriving and bringing
in income, but now it's almost as if he has dropped off the face of the earth.
Before we tell you more about Richard Simmons' mysterious disappearance from the public eye,
take a moment to show us a little support by giving this video a like and subscribing
to the Facts Verse channel.
Ahead Of His Time
There's no denying the fact that the fitness world has undergone a great deal of change
over the past several decades.
But what Richard Simmons was able to accomplish with Slimmons and his subsequent ventures
remains relevant to this day.
All too often, people think of physical fitness and weight loss with a rather bleak outlook,
but over the decades, Simmons taught us that you could laugh, smile, and really enjoy yourself
while working up a sweat.
Before it was even in vogue, Simmons presented to the world a doctrine of body positivity
that was well before its time.
He showed us that we didn't have to look like super thin supermodels, nor did we have to
starve ourselves in order to treat our bodies well and be fit.
He enthusiastically expressed to all willing to listen to him that all bodies are beautiful
and that there isn't really a one-size-fits-all approach to wellness.
After closing down his studio and retreating from the public eye, Simmons gave an audio
interview with the Today Show in 2016 in which he denied the rumors that he was in failing
health.
Not satisfied with his statement, in 2017, a podcast called Missing Richard Simmons was
launched that aimed to investigate why Simmons seemingly went into hiding so suddenly.
In March of 2017, LAPD detectives conducted a wellness check on Simmons at his LA-area
home.
Following that check-in, they issued a statement saying that Simmons appeared to be doing 'perfectly
fine' and that he was 'doing what he wants to do' as it's his own business.
A month later, Simmons was hospitalized for severe indigestion.
He then made his first public statement in over a year by posting on Facebook a photograph
of himself accompanied with the message 'I'm Not Missing – just a little under the weather'.
This social media post did little in the way of easing public worries for Simmon's well-being,
owing to the fact that the image used was taken back in 2013.
It was further speculated that the person who had made the post wasn't even Simmons
but rather someone who's job it is to maintain his social media presence.
The following year, in June 2018, Simmons sued a LA private investigator who he claimed
had placed a tracking device illegally on his personal vehicle.
If that was true, which it appeared to be, the act of placing such a tracking device
on Simmons's vehicle would be in blatant violation of California law.
In July of that year, Simmons amended the suit alleging that the private eye had been
hired by gossip rag In Touch Weekly.
With that amendment, prosecutors filed a criminal complaint as well.
In May of 2020, a California appellate court upheld a previously arrived upon judicial
decision that allowed Simmons's suit to continue to move forward.
Richard Simmons Secret Birth Defect
The reigning king of flashy fitness has successfully created a vast fitness and wellness empire
with his infomercials, cookbooks, merchandise, and workout videos.
He might not be quite as ubiquitous as he once was, but Simmons is still one of the
most recognizable public figures related to the world of weight loss and wellness in the
world.
It's not without merit to be concerned about Simmons's health – both physically and mentally.
He might claim that all is well, but when he departed from the public arena in 2014,
he did so while tearfully referring to himself as a 'court jester'.
While nothing can be said for sure given the fact that Simmons remains very vigilant about
protecting his privacy, a new documentary entitled TMZ Investigates: What Really Happened
to Richard Simmons, which can be streamed on Hulu and Fox, claims that Simmons has been
holed up in his home in Hollywood Hills due to a painful and debilitating genetic ailment
that he has been wrestling with since birth.
The documentary further asserts that Simmons has been keeping his battle with this mysterious
disease a secret from his adoring fans.
Fabian Garcia, the managing director for TMZ, is quoted in the doc as saying that something
that happened to Simmons at birth is directly related to his public disappearance.
Garcia further claims that the condition is a birth defect that has significantly affected
one of Simmons's legs.
Adding more detail to the claim, Garcia insists that the disorder has to do with Simmons bearing
born without a full set of bones in his foot and that this has caused him a great deal
of physical and emotional problems throughout his life.
The documentary's producer, Charles Latibeaudiere, claims in the film that Richard turned to
food to cope with his condition and that this led him to gain a significant amount of weight.
Because of that, Latibeaudiere says that this weight gain has put a lot of stress on the
entertainers knees.
Not surprising for an outlet that routinely publishes sensational, albeit often dubious,
reports about celebs, the documentary attempts to make the point that this condition is what
spearheaded Simmons rise to pop culture fame before eventually leading to his downfall
into a 'world of loneliness
and despair'.