Unless there's a huge conspiracy involving the LAPD and Richard Simmons' family, the reportedly missing fitness guru is probably not being held hostage by his housekeeper like the rumors have been saying.
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Simmons has disappeared from the public eye in recent years, sparking internet rumors run amok and a podcast dedicated to investigating Simmons' purported disappearance. But according to his older brother, Lenny Simmons, Richard is just taking some "time for himself" away from the spotlight to chill out for a little bit.
"I would just hope people [can] be a little bit more respectful and realize that he’s worked hard and he still loves people — but he needs some time for himself," Lenny Simmons said in a new interview with Entertainment Tonight. "We talk every Sunday. He calls me and we have a great conversation and then he talks to my wife. He probably talks to my wife longer than he talks to me."
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Lenny added that when he spoke to Richard this past Sunday, he was "doing great."
"He was asking about our renovations to our home. And we had just gone to see the Broadway musical, Beautiful," Lenny said.
Richard hasn't been seen in public in more than three years, and his social media channels have been quiet for nearly as long. Throughout that time, rumors have floated around about whether he's missing or ill, but talk has come to a head recently since Richard's longtime friend and masseuse, Mauro Oliveira, claimed publicly that Richard is being held hostage by his housekeeper, Teresa Reveles.
But Reveles, Lenny insists, is a "very lovely lady."
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"She has been a good friend of my brother for over 20 some-odd years," he added. "It stresses me to hear that people think that she is holding him hostage or that she is mean. She isn’t. She is a very nice person."
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