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Topics: US News, Celebrity, Los Angeles
Kit Roberts
The housekeeper of Richard Simmons will open up about his final moments in a new tell-all memoir.
Simmons died on July 13 2024, and had become known as a fitness coach and TV personality.
He became known for The Richard Simmons Show, and led workshops on weight loss programmes as well as general fitness in a supportive environment.
During his later life he hit the headlines after police were called to his house on a wellness check amid rumors that he was being held hostage by his housekeeper, which the Los Angeles Police Department later confirmed to be false.
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“There was something about his housekeeper holding him hostage and not allowing people to see him and preventing him from making phone calls and it was all garbage and that’s why we went out to see him. None of it is true,” Detective Kevin Becker told PEOPLE in a statement.
Now, Diane Sawyer is releasing an interview with Simmons' housekeeper Teresa Reveles on ABC, called The Mystery of Richard Simmons: A Diane Sawyer Special
The episode is scheduled to air on May 12, and will revisit Simmons' final moments.
It has been described as the 'first time [she’s] spoken about' Simmons' death, as well as his stepping back from public life from 2014 until he died in 2024.
A trailer from the episode gave a teaser of what viewers can expect.
In the preview, a narrator asks: “And what does Richard’s live-in housekeeper - the last person to see him alive - now say happened behind closed doors?”
Reveles is then heard saying: “When I came here, then I saw him on the floor.”
In addition to Reveles, the episode is also set to include interviews with Richard’s brother Lenny Simmons, as well as his wife Cathy Simmons.
There will also be an interview with Simmons' manager Michael Catalano, and his friend Rosie O'Donnell.
Reveles first met Simmons back in 1986 through an agency.
She told PEOPLE: “I showed up in here and Richard says to me, ‘Where are your clothes? Where is your big suitcase?’ I said, ‘I just bring the little suitcase because I only try this for two weeks. If you don’t like me or you don’t like my cooking, then I can’t work.’”
Reveles said that Simmons had told her 'you are never going to leave. We are going to be together until I die.'
“And you know what? His dream came true. He knew somehow," she said.