Richard Simmons’ longtime house manager Teresa Reveles says the fitness star used disguises whenever he left home during the years he withdrew from public life. Reveles, who worked for Simmons for three decades, made the comments in a new special with Diane Sawyer that revisits both his disappearance from view and the final days before his death.
Reveles said Simmons would change into different looks before stepping out, describing how he tried to avoid being recognized. “He’d do all the very different costumes,” she said. “Sometimes he’d be a clown. Sometimes he’d be a woman.” She added, “Nobody knows [it] was him. And then later he go -- we go in the car and -- I take him all the city so we can see the new buildings, the new store.”
The revelations carry added weight because Reveles was the last person to see Simmons alive before he died on July 11, 2024, at 76. Sawyer said on “Good Morning America” that Reveles had been “very protective” of him. She also said Simmons had reached out directly to her after a decade of silence and wanted to share his story, even sending flowers with a note that read, “I trust you.”
That outreach came as preparations were being made for the interview, and Simmons died before it could happen. His death was ruled accidental, and a family spokesperson said complications from prior falls and heart disease were contributing factors. The special, titled “The Mystery of Richard Simmons: A Diane Sawyer Special,” was set to air Tuesday, May 12, at 9 p.m. ET on ABC and stream the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
The program is expected to do more than revisit the public’s fascination with Simmons’ retreat from view. It also brings in his brother Lenny Simmons and sister-in-law Cathy Simmons, adding family voices to a story that has remained largely sealed since he stepped away from the spotlight a decade ago. Reveles’ account suggests that even in isolation, Simmons still found ways to move through the world on his own terms.
