Workout guru-turned-recluse Richard Simmons may return to the public eye soon, according to Tae Bo master Billy Blanks.
Blanks said he believes his 70-year-old fitness friend, who hasn’t had a public appearance since 2014, will make a comeback after taking some time to care for himself.
“I think he needed that private time … to get (himself) together,” Blanks said in an interview Sunday with The Blast. “I think that’s what he’s doing and I think soon he’ll be back.”
Simmons’ representative Tom Estey declined to comment to USA TODAY on Blanks’ remarks.
The Tae Bo creator, 63, explained that he believes Simmons dropped off the public radar half a decade ago to make himself a top priority after years of assisting others.
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Billy Blanks made Tae Bo, the kickboxing rage, a huge sensation. Here, he conducts a class at his Billy Blanks World Training Center in Los Angeles in 1999. (Photo: ROBERT HANASHIRO/USA TODAY)
“Richard Simmons (has) been around so long helping people,” Blanks said. “I think he needed to take time off for himself because when you get to the point where you don’t see yourself anymore, then you lose yourself.”
One of the people Simmons helped inspire was Blanks, who credited the famous fitness instructor with motivating him to create his own exercise program.
Richard Simmons in 2013. (Photo: Richard Shotwell, Invision/AP)
Interest in Simmons’ abrupt retreat from public life re-emerged in February 2017 following the smash podcast “Missing Richard Simmons,” in which his former friend Dan Taberski investigated Simmons’ seclusion. During the podcast’s run, Los Angeles police made a wellness check to the fitness superstar’s home and reported Simmons was “fine.”
In April 2017, Simmons resurfaced on Facebook days after a reported hospitalization for severe indigestion to assure fans that he’s OK, thanking well-wishers for their concern.
“Aren’t you sick of hearing and reading about me?!” he cracked. “Well, by now you know that I’m not ‘missing,’ just a little under the weather. I’m sure I will be feeling good and back home in a couple of days.”
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