Richard Simmons still has not appeared in public, and longtime friends remain concerned.
“I heard the two interviews, ET and the Today show,” Mauro Oliveira, Simmons’ former masseur and personal assistant told the Daily News Monday. “At least we have achieved a little success (in coaxing Simmons to show he is OK), but it is not enough. Unfortunately, the mystery is going to remain the same.”
The reclusive exercise guru was back on the air after a two-year public absence Monday, but worried friends and fans did not get to see him. On Sunday night, Simmons spoke with ET following a News story Sunday about his disappearance into obscurity. And on Monday, he spoke to NBC’s Today Show. But Simmons phoned it in on both shows, only deepening the worry surrounding the legendary fitness fanatic.
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Speaking to Today’s Savannah Guthrie, Simmons said, “I just kind of wanted to be a little bit of a loner for a while. Right now I just sort of want to just take care of me.”
He later took to Facebook to thank fans, reiterate his need for “private time” and promised he’s “not going anywhere.”
Simmons had declined several requests for comment from The News. Longtime friends of Simmons had been hoping The News story would coax him out of hiding, and were disappointed that he had only agreed to do phone interviews.
“That didn’t sound like Richard Simmons when he was well,” Oliveira said. “He didn’t sound like he was in a good place. He sounded depressed. The people who care about him want to see his face.”
Oliveira was one of five longtime friends of the 67-year-old Simmons who told The News they were worried because they had not heard from him in two years.
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Adding a macabre twist, Oliveira said he suspects Simmons’ Hollywood Hills housekeeper, Teresa Reveles, was using witchcraft to control him.
“No one is holding me in my house as a hostage,” Simmons said on Today. “I do what I want to do and have always done.”
Asked about the accusations against Reveles, Simmons said, “That is just very silly. Teresa Reveles has been with me for 30 years. (It’s) almost like we are married.”
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Simmons, who was last photographed by TMZ in January 2014, acknowledged that he has become reclusive. “I just don’t want to be doing anything,” he said. “I just don’t want to travel anymore. To all the people that are worried about me, I want to tell you that I love you with my whole heart and soul. Richard Simmons is fine.”
Unless Simmons appears in public, those worried folks will not be reassured.
“Until he shows his face, no one will believe he is really OK, and the mystery will continue,” said one longtime friend of Simmons.
