Richard Simmons' Longtime Housekeeper Reveals Suspected Cause of Death, Why He Disappeared From Public Eye

Richard Simmons‘ housekeeper of 35 years, Teresa Reveles, is speaking out about his tragic death.

She first began living with and working with the late fitness guru back in the 1980s. He passed away at the age of 76 earlier this month.

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Teresa was the one who found him.

“When I saw him, he looked peaceful,” she told People.

She shared that his hands were balled into fists when he was found. “That’s why I know it was a heart attack. I had a heart attack a few years ago, and my hands did the same.”

She revealed what happened at their first meeting in 1986. She shared, “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.’” He said to her, “Teresa, come in, 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.

She also revealed why he hid from public eye for the last years of his life.

“He could not exercise. He could not teach his class. ‘Teresa, my knees hurt.’” He had a knee replacement, and could not jump anymore.

“When he told me that I thought, ‘He’s kidding. He can’t do that.’ But he said, ‘I want to be Richard. If I’m not going to be Richard…’ —you know, with famous people they say, ‘The day I can’t be myself, then I have to stop working.’ And that’s why he did it,” she shared.

He also apparently did not like his appearance.

“He thought he looked too old,” she said. “He did not want anyone to see him. But Richard looked the same. Okay, maybe a little older, like me, because we have to age. A little less hair. But he weighed the same, mostly. He was not as skinny.”