Mystery of Richard Simmons, The: A Diane Sawyer Special (2026)

[bunniefuu]

Tonight, inside a mystery.

What happened to

richard simmons?

We're all waiting for

support from others.

And sometimes we don't get it.

That's why god made me.

His expl*sive rocket ride.

You are loved by oh so many!

America's leaslikely superstar.

It's sweatin' time!

This is the highest selling

videotape in the history

of home video sales.

The man who gave hope to

millions of americans

desperate for help.

You've made me live again.

Why did he bounce higher

and higher, and then one

day all of a sudden vanish

for an entire decade?

And then it just got real quiet.

What goes up must come down.

Where in the world

is richard simmons?

The fitness celebrity

reportedly hasn't been seen

by even his closesfriends for years.

And here's how I became

part of the story.

After 10 years hiding in

this house in hollywood,

richard simmons called me.

Sending roses, vase after

vase, all with the same note,

he said he was finally ready

to emerge and tell his story.

I was about to fly

out to meet him.

And then...

Fitness guru richard simmons

has died in los angeles jusone day after turning 76.

Rumors recently swirling

about simmons' health.

And it was so sudden they said

they had to be in autopsy.

The coroner called us and said,

"we got the toxicology report."

So tonight we go in

search of answers.

What happened in those 10 years?

Why was he afraid to be

seen by the outside world?

And what will the one person

who lived inside that house

with him for a decade say

about the final days?

- Okay, this is the firstime I'm talking about this.

The gates open.

This is the house thaconcealed the dark mystery.

The ten-year disappearance

of richard simmons.

His hidden world

exactly as he left it.

No one has lived here since.

His brother and sister-in-law

have agreed to let me in.

- Hello. -Hello.

- Hi. -Come in.

- Diane. -Welcome

to richard's home

I meet lenny simmons, jusfive feet of sunny energy.

Energy like his younger brother.

Lenny's wife kathy says richard

had talked to them abouour plan to do an interview.

He would call.

Guess who I talked to today?

He was so excited.

And so I get my first look arichard simmons' hidden world.

It's not what I expected.

Above, vaulted ceilings sky

blue with fluffy clouds.

All around, angels

with wings and dolls.

A kind of time capsule of

childhood innocence and safety.

- I think he collected

because it made him happy.

- As a kid at christmas,

he would get the package,

rip that open, and, "where

am I going to put this?"

Some of the dolls are

large, some are eerie.

Collectors' items

made by artists.

We'll show you more

of his house later,

including the walls

lined with memories,

photos of that unhappy little

boy at catholic school

who, against all odds,

turned himself into a

kind of human disco ball.

Let's start again with those

tapes we will never forget.

Sweatin' to the oldies

would gross more than $200

million, smashing records.

By 1980, richard simmons

had also become a

surprising tv powerhouse.

I want you to get up

bright and early for the

richard simmons show.

The ratings hit on

every show, everywhere.

Please welcome a man

whose shorts lead nothing

to the imagination.

Please welcome the

one, the only...

Richard simmons.

We're going to be going door

to door, talking to people

about various things, and

look who I brought with me.

Come on.

Hi.

It's a beautiful day

in the neighborhood.

If this doesn't bring the

cops, I don't know what will.

From david letterman to saturday

night live with mike myers.

It's richard simmons!

[Screaming]

oh my gosh!

And somehow the tiny guy with

the billowing halo of curly hair

took his place alongside

the goliaths of fitness.

(Upbeat music)

- the most satisfying feeling

you can get in the gym

is the pump.

- And what about jane fonda

with her 25-inch waist?

- One, two, three, four, down.

- They were all perfect looking.

They were breathtaking.

And, you know, here I

look like a potato.

- A potato with a

potent superpower.

Look at the dancers

behind jane fonda.

Now, look at the dancers

behind richard simmons.

He was inviting

everyone to the party.

To dance like you would

have at the high school

prom you may have missed.

Like the little girl who

puts a prom dress on and

comes down the stairs,

she just wants someone to

tell her she looks pretty.

We're all waiting for

support from others,

from a spouse, from

children, from parents.

And sometimes we don't get it.

That's why god made me.

It was his idea from

the very start.

We found this old news

footage of an unknown guy

in his 20s with a little

fitness studio in los angeles.

I pooled my money

together, $25,000,

and I opened the exercise suite

he conducts special

classes for women who are

much heavier than him.

And it's a way of saying,

"you're 400 pounds,

and I'm 400 pounds.

You failed on diet,

and I failed on diet.

But now richard cares, and

we're going to bust our

chops and do it together."

Come on, move it!

Some of them don't pay.

Some of them are not married,

have children, or divorced,

or no one cares about them.

And they can't get hired for

jobs if you're 400 pounds.

You're unemployed.

I just love these people.

Back, back, go away.

Give it all to doris day.

I'm just outrageous.

I think being outrageous is

great and I think that anybody

out there, if they haven'tried it, go buy some.

He also said laughter is the

beginning of hope and his

mission was to make you love

yourself just enough to

fight your way back to hell.

When I first started here,

richard said, "okay, I wanyou to touch your toes."

And I went.

And that was it.

And ten weeks later,

I'm doing this.

Richard saved my life.

Before I came here, I

literally couldn't move.

I could barely walk up the

stairs to my apartment.

Which is how he became the

fitness king who created...

Stretch and stretch.

...exercise tapes

for senior citizens.

Again, stretch.

He also made exercise

tapes for the disabled.

Four, five, now

take it for four.

One. Richard simmons was the

kind of celebrity motivator

who called his clients at home

to keep them from giving up.

I want you to meet someone

who saw a lot of results.

Elijah jones, he was

almost 500 pounds.

Elijah jones has

lost 300 pounds.

My friend, elijah jones.

Your top weight was?

6'12". 6'12".

Yeah. And you have lost now?

301 Pounds I lost.

And when richard simmons

showed up in small

towns across america, thousands

of people stormed the

mall, covered by local news.

His longtime manager and

friend, michael catalano,

traveled with him.

Four thousand people?

And he loved it because it was

free, everyone was welcome.

You know, richard was

about inclusivity way

before it became popular.

I mean, he wanted

everyone to participate.

How many people here

exercised this morning?

Raise your hand.

[Cheering]

it was almost like a ministry,

like a priest or a minister

would have a ministry of health.

And again, he took

it very seriously.

Maybe I can help other people.

Maybe this is the mission

that god has for me.

And maybe a mission that would

help heal the deep wounds

inside a little boy

an underlying theme in richard's

life is, you know, insecurity.

And in a way, the

insecurity drove him

because he wanted to

take power over it.

But he used to say to

me, "isn't it amazing?

"Here we are, we've

accomplished so much,

"I've done so much,

and I'm still little,

insecure dickie simmons."

I think that I'm

just a good example

of a chubby, fat, unhappy kid

who lived in new orleans,

louisiana, and dreamed.

And now all my dreams

are coming true.

And in many ways, thagreat response thahe got from people,

that fueled him.

That really, you know, he

felt the love, let's say.

- Until he didn't.

- Until he didn't. Exactly

so why did the big-hearted

megastar hide from the

world for 10 years?

Back in the 1980s, americans

struggling with weighwere fair game for jokes.

Last week, duchess of

york, sarah ferguson,

visited the big apple and

showed off her 14-pound

on weight loss.

Hopefully this

will not interfere

with her official duties

of sitting on her fat a*s

all day long.

- So how'd you gain the weight?

- I ate a lot.

(Audience laughing)

- no, no, no, you

said 50 pounds.

You shouldn't lethat happen to you.

You're very pretty.

- I'm trying, you know what?

- No, I don't wanna hear.

Let me tell you.

(Audience laughing)

let me tell you, if

you're a pretty girl

and you're single, you

must lose the weight.

- And on tv, you are

a little fuller,

a little bit more thicker.

- I wouldn't call myself thick.

- Some girl ate monica.

(Audience laughing)

I know what you're saying.

What am I saying?

That I'm overweight, basically.

You really are.

It makes me think of that little

boy who would one day grow up

to build himself a house

full of dolls, angels, and

memories of what ridicule

used to do to him.

His mother had been a fan

dancer in old-time vaudeville.

She ended up working long

hours at a department store

to support the family.

His father, a former vaudeville

actor, stayed at home

and taught the children

to love musicals

and sing the show tunes.

Growing up in new

orleans, richard

was a devout little

catholic schoolboy

who dressed up as a

cardinal for a fundraiser.

He loved the nuns and worried

about their dreary convenrooms. He told me on the

phone, he said, I

persuaded them to take me

over to see where they

live, the little rooms

where they live.

And he came back to

your mom and said,

mom, we've got to gethem throw pillows.

We need some color

in those rooms.

That's right.

We'll make them happy.

Absolutely. I was

taught by nuns,

who always thought I was,

like, again an alien,

because I would sing to

them and I would do crazy,

silly things for them.

A little people pleaser who

had no defense when bullies

attacked, calling him a sissy

chasing him with a baseball bat.

Did you know he

was being bullied?

Yeah, we both were because

we were, we were heavy.

We did not have a lot of money.

Matter of fact, my dad made

our outfits and most people

don't know this, but we were on

what they call work scholarships

and to only to get half of

our tuition off, we'd have to

serve the food at the cafeteria

and then pick up garbage and

trash while they were studying.

And they would make fun

of us for doing that.

He describes some heartbreaking

scenes of going in the

bathroom and the kids would be

waiting for him and he ended

up just not going to the

bathroom at the school.

I mean, the stories he would

tell me, when he was bullied,

he would come home and put the

record on the record player

and just dance like

there's no tomorrow.

When you're alone and

life is making you lonely

imagine a little

boy, day after day,

dancing on the edge

of desperation.

Even later in his life,

he'll remember every

detail of that time.

I would rush home from school

and I'd buy all these 45s.

I never tried to deal with

that hurt in front of anybody.

Still a child, he was

so heavy his doctor puhim on his first diet,

but he kept sneaking

the consolation of

po'boys and pralines.

He stole diet pills from

the mother of a friend.

Thirty minutes before each

meal depresses your appetite.

Diet pills in elementary school.

Throwing up four or

five times a day.

Trying to be accepted, trying

to change what you look like.

Hopefully, you know, you

could be a new person

and get rid of the old person

that you didn't like so much.

We couldn't find any photos

of him at his highest weight,

but by college, the small class

clown weighed 268 pounds.

A stranger left him

a note, "that weighis going to k*ll you."

There was a note on

my car and it said,

"dear richard, you're

very funny, but fapeople die young."

In a panic, he starves

himself, lettuce and water,

losing more than 100

pounds in only two months.

But it ends him up in the

hospital with dehydration

and problems with his

kidneys and his lungs.

When he comes to los

angeles at age 25,

he's thin, but horrified

by the damage he has done.

My hair fell out, the eyes

drooped, the chin drooped.

If you don't exercise while

you're losing the weight,

you will end up to look

like a very thin glad bag.

I had to go to a

plastic surgeon.

Chin had to go up,

eyes had to be done,

nose fixed, 900 hair transplant.

What's to prevent other

people from looking at you

and saying, "hey, richard

did it, why can't I do it?"

Cause they shouldn't make the

same anguish mistake that I made

'cause I almost died.

He's the workout coach

with a powerful purpose

and a man ready for

another transformation.

Under his tasteful cardigan,

crystal studded tank tops,

the gray slacks now

dolphin shorts,

his curly hair on a

flight of its own.

As if to say,

"bullies be damned,"

that tormented little

boy has become a daring

pioneer of ambiguity.

He saw himself as

a court jester.

Richard always said, "I

don't care if they're

laughing with me or at me.

I just want them

to be laughing."

Here again on david letterman.

So we're going to

go get him pants.

Put him in some like

jungle fatigue, thakind of thing, you know?

I'm not going.

Look like a tough guy.

You want to look like a

tough guy, don't you?

No... All right.

Oh my god!

I am alignment for the county!

Come on, here we go.

I don't want to go oudressed like that.

I don't care.

Let's go.

But sometimes you go on these

interviews and you think,

why is he punishing himself?

It felt like a little boy

who wanted to be friends

with the cool kids, you know?

Felt like a little boy who

wanted to be included.

And I'm sure when he was a

little boy, he wasn't included.

Do you think he did ibecause he thought he

could win them over?

He kind of did

with howard stern.

You're my favorite

guest of all time.

I know, I know.

And I love you.

But let me say this too.

I love you.

With every appearance,

more people would

sign up for his help.

Rosie o'donnell saw the magic.

What was the definition of whahe did that was different?

I think he loved

people back to health.

Always thinking of other people

and cheering you on, you know?

I mean, as I struggled

with my weight up and

down for so many years.

And that was his gifthat he gave everyone.

He cared about every

story he heard.

Hey, it's richard

simmons calling.

How are you?

How many times have I

personally told you

how terrific you are?

Whether it was a

senator, or the ceo of a

fortune 500 company,

or you were delivering

the fedex package,

or you were the

housekeeper at the hotel,

everyone got the same.

I love you, you're

a great friend.

Bye, sweet man.

For decades, simmons

would be a one-man

ozempic, tirelessly

helping americans

lose an estimated

three million pounds.

How much?

Fifty pounds.

Eighty-five. Twenty pounds.

Forty. A hundred.

Two hundred and four pounds.

It was his whole life.

Every month, every

week, every day for 30

for 20 years, he traveled

10 million miles

across the country.

An inexhaustible man in

shorts and tank tops,

flying high in his

30s, his 40s, his 50s.

Even trying to fire up

the dance in his 60s.

But coming up, is something

happening to the laughing,

leaping court jester?

A dark shadow

beginning to move in.

It was 1997 when ellen degeneres

made the pioneering call to

come out on her own tv sitcom.

I'm g*y.

Conservative backlash

was immediate.

The idea of saying to

the children of america

that the g*y and l*sbian

alternative one, children

should not be given

that kind of temptation.

The audiences

gradually retreated.

Her show was taken off the air.

She and I spoke afterwards

about the cancellation of

the show and her courage.

I'm going to miss the show,

but it's still, it doesn'make any difference to me if I

would have stayed on, you know,

two more years or ten more

years if I would have been nofollowing my heart.

Another television pioneer,

rosie o'donnell, remembers thatreacherous cultural landscape

and says if richard

simmons was living on a

blurred line, so was she.

We're in a similar position athe time in my show, right?

How do you mean?

He wasn't speaking about his

relationships or love life

or identifying himself

in any way back in the

beginning, nor was i.

It wasn't until we did the

interview that I came out and

spoke about the

truth of my life.

It was years after ellen's show

had been cancelled that rosie

did this interview with me.

You seem so fearless.

Are you worried that there's

no way back from that?

I guess, I mean, part of the

reason why I've never, like,

said that I was g*y until now

was because I didn't wanthat adjective assigned to

my name for all of eternity.

I don't think he felt, not only

not comfortable, but I think he

maybe felt there'd be backlash.

So what happened to ellen?

Right? Add to that, growing up a

devout catholic boy who finally

got his dream, an audience with

the pope

he would not discuss his private

relationships in public,

and the people who worked

for him and his family

resolutely honor

that privacy today.

He was just dickie.

That was something that he

was not going to discuss.

But he'd go right to

the line, real close,

and put his toe over the line.

And again, back to sorof, "I want people to

laugh and feel good."

Even at private dinners, he

might show up in full drag.

The elevator opened,

and out he comes.

And he's just in full regalia,

looking like somebody's

aunt barbara.

And I'm like, "all right.

Hey, listen, I'm

all good with it.

I have no issue

with it, you know."

On "jay leno," when a

rugged action star appears,

richard supplies the punchline.

- Hi, I'm d*ck simmons.

How you doing?

There you go, there you go.

d*ck. Hey, you see

that super bowl?

Damn.

(Audience laughing)

there you go.

Wow, there you are.

He's a man's man.

- Please welcome

our mystery guest.

- On "rosie," he

fearlessly shows up

to play her macho

mystery surprise.

- Okay, wait, are

you a sports figure?

- You must be out of your mind.

(Audience laughing)

who the hell are you?

Take your hands.

Bring them up.

Put them on my head.

Richard simmons!

That's it.

I always try to get close

to him at the commercials.

I always try to, like, you

know, say, like, you know,

I have a spouse and

kids and, you know,

do you got anybody you love?

And he would always go, oh,

choo, choo, choo, you know?

And I sensed a sadness,

too, you know?

Because I struggle with

depression myself,

and I can sometimes see other

people who are struggling.

And then, as time went on,

new insecurities seemed

to compound the old ones.

His signature boyish

face weathered,

his hair thinning, thahigh-flying charmer

now hobbled by pain.

When he would stand, ilooked like he would pose

and his leg would go out.

He had a lot of

problems with his knee.

And he would come home,

he'd say, "I got ice.

I am so sore.

Look at the difference.

You can see his legs in

the old tape on the lefand the later tape on the right.

He had replacemensurgery on one knee

and tried stem cell

therapy on the other,

but it didn't work.

I think everything

happened at one time

and he just didn't like

the way he looked at 65.

He didn't look like

the impish cheerleader

- big curly hair.

- Big hair and all that.

- Nobody wants a cheerleader

to come out, you know,

with no pom-poms.

- Howard stern had openly

adored richard simmons,

who was on his show 64 times.

But now, when stern tries

to get behind the mask--

- and you are a loving man.

I just wonder if you've

ever had love in your life.

And I don't mean thain any comical sense.

Do you know love?

- I don't know why you're

picking on me today.

- Is that picking?

- Yeah, a little bit.

My wonderful housekeeper

today, teresa,

who's been with me 24 years.

But that's someone you pay.

Is there anyone there

who cares about you?

No, she cares about me.

She loves me very much.

Now in his 60s, simmons

can feel that the times

and tastes are changing.

Michelle obama had launched

a new fitness campaign.

Richard spoke about ion huffington post.

I love michelle obama.

You know, I wanted to

meet them, both of them.

I wanted to help her because I'm

just not their set of sheets.

He begins to pull back from

his travels more time at home

with his dalmatians and dolls,

the angels and the crosses

on the wall, and the

bedroom, a quiet refuge.

The character he once invented,

now just sequins in the closet.

Oh, they're amazing.

Look at the one you pick.

It's the smiling one.

That is.

Because you know he's

smiling right now.

Absolutely. Talk

about the crystals.

And feel how heavy they are.

They are.

And the man who spent his life

giving encouragement to others

wakes up to words of affirmation

to get him through every day.

The future belongs to

those who believe in the

beauty of their dreams.

Eleanor roosevelt.

And then there's

another angel up here.

So this was by albert einstein.

Only a life lived for others

is a life worthwhile.

He has said after all

the years on the road,

he never created a

circle of friends.

In his house, he had a doll of

his idol, barbara streisand,

but they didn'spend time together.

Who's the most famous

person you meand got to hang out with?

I just don't, I don't socialize.

I don't know how to socialize

'cause as a fat kid,

I sort of kept to myself.

I wouldn't know whato do at a party.

I don't go to anyone.

I haven't been to

anyone's house.

Really? In seven years.

And then hattie, the last of

his beloved dalmatians, died.

It devastated him.

When I would go over there and

he was just quiet, you know?

And perhaps somewhat depressed.

Sadder, sadder.

He wasn't the bouncing

off the walls, richard.

Certainly. He still tries.

You can see it in this

video, which is about a year

before he'll go into hiding.

He does rouse himself to

greet a celebrity tour bus.

They spot him for a second.

The old richard turns it on

to make the tourists happy.

There he is, he's found her.

Everyone wave and he might come.

Where's he gone?

How are you?

Come on!

Excellent.

Where are you all from?

Australia! Let's go!

Have you ever been to...

- Dragos. -Yeah.

- We love the oysters.

- Just a minute.

Dear heavenly father,

did you ever taste

anything like that?

Take this place.

Take this 007.

Skyfall. -Why are we here?

- We're fresh here.

It is january 2014.

The tmz corners a subdued

simmons on the sidewalk.

Hello. How are you?

This is the last known

image of richard simmons.

In just a few weeks,

he'll disappear

and hide from the

world for ten years.

Happy new year's to you

and all your viewers.

I hope that they're gonna

exercise this year.

Actually, I'm squeezing my

buns while I'm talking.

And then it just got real quiet.

And it was the housekeeper

and the assistant.

That was everything.

Coming up, is it vanity?

Is it fear?

Is it a phobia? You'll

meet the person who spenthat decade inside

the house, with him

2014 the first year of richard

simmons' disappearance,

the 65-year-old tells

his close family he

just needs a rest.

I'd say, "okay, the firsyear, I understand.

Second year, okay, you're

really tired, I understand.

By the third year,

I'd be worried.

- We were all

concerned about it,

and he did see someone, he

saw a doctor at some point,

but he wasn't overly

receptive to it.

Honestly, I don't think he

gave it enough of a chance,

honestly, you know.

- Everybody calls isomething different.

His funk, his years of solitude,

his decade of solitude.

Nobody ever realized iwas going to be 10 years.

10 Years of something like

a phobia of being seen.

At one point, his

house manager, teresa,

has to hide him under

a blanket to take him

to the hospital for a medical

procedure on his esophagus.

His brother, lenny, flies

out to be with him.

Lenny got on the phone.

He said, you're going.

I'm coming out.

Goodbye. And lenny was on the

next plane out here.

But at some point, family

visits began to trail off,

though lenny and kathy

stay in faithful touch

once a week by phone.

As years begin to go by,

a hit podcast raises

worried questions abouhis disappearance.

Tabloid magazines make

wild accusations.

They suggest he

was transitioning,

which wasn't true, and

even reported thateresa had taken him hostage.

Police detectives come to the

house for a wellness check.

Richard convinces

them he's fine.

At one point, he

phones the today show

to deny all those rumors.

- No one is holding me in

my house as a hostage.

- But he doesn't deny he is

in the grip of something

that echoes childhood fears,

like peter pan's shadow.

- When you're an overweighkid, and you're made fun of,

you're put down.

Some of that stuff

never leaves you.

It always sort of is like

a shadow like peter pan.

And there, inside

that house with him,

the house manager had been

by his side for 36 years.

You comfortable?

Teresa ravellas

reluctantly agrees

to come before our cameras.

She says he was so kind and

seemed happy at home with her,

but she confirms his

fear of being seen by

anyone from the outside.

When teresa got cancer,

he took care of her,

but if a nurse had to come in,

he'd hide behind closed doors.

He was insecure, okay,

that he don't look good,

that he don't look good anymore.

But that is what it was.

They gonna say, "oh,

richard simmons, I saw

richard, he looks old.

He doesn't look good anymore.

But is that just vanity

or something deeper?

Back with the baseball

bats and bullies

and the mortal pain

of being ridiculed.

A legacy of wounds

that never heal.

That image will

k*ll richard, okay?

So what was he doing in

that house all that time?

Teresa says he had

breakfast with her.

They watched the news

together at night.

We also tracked down his

longtime assistant, michelle,

who used to work on his videos

and would now drop by

regularly just to meet.

Teresa says that richard

absolutely forbade anyone

from ever taking a photo of

him, even inside the house.

So this is the photo

album from all that time.

Animals coming up to the door

to be fed by richard simmons.

They are looking ahim, but we can't.

Teresa confirms thasometimes she would take him

out of the house for

a drive and a walk,

but he was in complete disguise.

- Oh, he do a very

different costume.

Sometimes he be a clown.

Sometimes he be a woman.

Nobody knows was him.

And then later,

we go in the car,

and I take him out of the

city so we can see the new

buildings, the new store.

Nine years and 11

months will go by.

An old friend who reached

out said he never

returned her calls.

Are we wrong to have

trouble believing

what was just being

said all the time?

That he just wants to rest?

I don't think so.

But a 10-year depression, do

you think that's possible?

I certainly do.

These whole 10 years.

I certainly do.

I think it's very possible

a 10-year depression,

especially if you're noable to get the kind of help

that you need.

And it seems to

me that he wasn'a guy who would love therapy.

No, but sometimes

depression wins.

January 2024, richard

simmons is now 75 years old

when suddenly something jolts

him out of his fearful hiding.

He sees this video of

the comedian pauly shore

announcing he is going to

play richard simmons in a

biography of simmons life.

In a stunning move, richard

goes online to say he didn'authorize this biopic and he

didn't want the purpose of his

life reinvented

without permission.

This morning, reclusive

fitness icon richard simmons

issuing a rare statement after

word that a biopic about his

life will soon be released.

What happens next?

The niagara of excitement,

hundreds and hundreds of fans

and then he was like, "wow,

they really missed me.

I didn't know anyone would

care that I was gone."

And that just comes

back to that whole

insecurity thing, you know?

You know what?

Richard never felt famous.

He thought that nobody's

going to remember him

because 10 years went by.

And when he saw tharight away in a second,

and then richard says,

"teresa, look it."

- And that's when I

got the call from him

about doing an interview

to tell his story himself.

He told me he had feverishly

started writing songs

for a broadway musical

version of his life,

how he planned to take the

front seats out of the theater

so that people could come down

and dance like the old days.

And we started joking

the last six months.

I said, "there's a part of

'hamilton' that she says,

'why do you write like you're

running out of time?'"

And we would both sing

that song together.

'Cause he would call,

"I have another one.

You wanna hear it?"

It was just this

champagne bottle,

just effervescent and

giggly, you know, like

a little boy again.

It was, like, so good

to have him back.

Yeah. And the lasour phone call, he tells me,

"I know when something is

right and I trust you."

And then he began to cry.

July 12, 2024, his

76th birthday.

I sent him a birthday message.

Lenny and kathy call him.

We talked-- called

him on his birthday,

our wedding anniversary.

He said he had gotten some

food poisoning, some bad luck.

His voice was a little off.

What they didn't know is

that he was immobilized.

He had fallen and lain on the

floor for hours and hours

with a terrible injury, the

injury that would ultimately

lead to his death.

Legendary fitness guru richard

simmons has died in los angeles

just one day after turning 76.

Yo, this is crazy.

I can't believe it.

But richard simmons just died.

Simmons was just one of

those cultural icons

with zero scandal.

And it was like, the thing

that I had never expected.

And I got the phone call.

Who called who?

Teresa called.

A shattered older brother

flies to california.

The coroner, dr. Grant h*,

gave him unsettling news.

His brother's death was

not from natural causes.

It was accidental, precipitated

by that terrible fall

two nights before he died.

When dr. h* said the manner

of death was accidental,

it really threw us.

He had apparently

broken his femur,

and it was pronated, so noout of the skin, but out.

By the hip joint.

Painful.

It happened overnight in thabathroom off the bedroom.

Teresa's bedroom is downstairs

in a wing back off the kitchen.

The next morning, when he's

not down for breakfast,

she goes up and finds him.

I went to his room and

I knocked the door.

And I said, richard, he

says, come in, teresa.

And he was sitting on the

floor in his bedroom.

And I said, what happened?

He says, "I come to

the bathroom, and I

got dizzy and I fell.

And I tried to get up,

but my left leg hurts me.

I can't get up."

He says, "I just screamed to

you, and you don't hear me."

I said, "richard, you know what?

Maybe you have a fracture.

Can we go to the hospital?"

And you know, he was not even

complaining about the pain.

"Not on my birthday, teresa.

We go tomorrow.

She calls for the regular

cleaning person there that day,

irma, to come help.

The two of them gehim back in bed.

And he says, if I don't move and

I'm in the bed, nothing hurts.

Only when I try to put the

weight on my leg, it hurts me.

But he never complained

that it hurts a lot.

And he says, no, the long as I

stayed on my bed with my leg,

nothing hurts.

I want to celebrate my birthday.

And then tomorrow

morning, we will do it.

And I have to do what he

wants to do, you know?

At 10 o'clock thanight, she says

she goes up to his bedroom

to give him his sleeping

medication and asks him again

if she can call an ambulance.

Now that it's dark outside,

no one will see him.

Nobody's going to see you.

It's nice to go peace at night.

He says, "not today, teresa.

Tomorrow I do anything you want.

Tomorrow call the ambulance.

Tomorrow morning,

you do everything."

She leaves richard

alone in his bedroom.

But at some point, he will

try once again to get up

and falls beside the bed.

At 9.30 the next morning,

teresa comes up and

finds him on the floor.

He has died.

I opened the door, and I

don't see him in his bed.

When I come here, then

I saw him on the floor.

Okay, this is the first time

I'm talking about this.

And I know he passed

out right away.

Right away, I knew

he passed out.

I run.

I went and called him.

I knew it was too

late to help him.

I hugged him, I kissed him,

and I told him to talk to me.

The coroner's reporof what happened is

filled with some

answers and some still

mysterious questions.

For instance, there are a number

of bruises here, here, here.

Some of them new,

which could have been

from the night of the fall,

but others clearly older.

- Well, that I don't know why.

He never complained

about anything,

and he never told me

unless he bruises

when he was doing exercise.

I don't know, because, you

know, he was doing the weights,

he was doing the machines.

- The autopsy also shows

says that he had some

significant heart blockage,

but a heart attack was

not the cause of death.

So what was it?

The report says only he

died of complications

after the traumatic fall.

The medical examiner does nospecify the possibilities

like stroke, infection,

kidney failure.

And by practice, he

does not comment.

So lenny is left to wonder.

If richard had agreed

to go to the hospital,

would everything be different?

Had he gone to the hospital,

would he still be around?

Only god knows that.

I think richard would be

doing this interview with you

and not me.

And so on october 5 at the

catholic church in new orleans,

they prepare for a celebration.

Lenny, kathy, teresa have

readied richard for burial.



So he's wearing a beautiful

pink bichon jacket.

That was his favorite

color, was pink.

Beautiful gray slacks.

They put one of his favorite

pralines near his body

and make sure that underneath

that tasteful jacket,

he is wearing a glittering

tank top and shorts

so he's ready to sweawith the holies.

God has another plan for

him to help the saints

and the angels get into shape.

Richard simmons will forever

be sweating with the holies.

[Music playing]

and if only that insecure

little boy could have seen

the city of new orleans

turning out for him.

- Daring the bullies to make

fun of sequined tank tops,

dolphin shorts, curly hair,

and a man who once promised,

"your life, your

health, your joy

are just one dance,

one hug away."

- I don't think united

states or the world

is gonna have another

richard simmons.

- And everyone in the

audience is gonna get one.

I asked rosie o'donnell whashe would say to him today,

and she quoted a beloved

show tune from les mis.

"My soul belongs to god I know.

I made that bargain long ago.

He gave me hope

when hope was gone.

He gave me strength

to carry on."

So if you could ask

him one more question

about anything,

what would it be?

Did you finally feel the love?

And I think he would

say overwhelmingly yes.

I'd want to know

if he was happy.

Was he happy before he passed?

I do plan for a nice reception

in heaven, you know, I do.

And maybe a loof southern food.

And angels only gain

weight in their wings.

And the saints go marching in.