It has been over two weeks because the world misplaced health legend Richard Simmons, however tributes proceed to pour in, with the most recent coming from his housekeeper.
Teresa Reveles labored for and lived with the wellness skilled for 35 years, changing into certainly one of its closest confidantes throughout his life. She not too long ago opened up about their treasured recollections and his remaining moments in an emotional interview.
Richard Simmons died on July 13, a day after his 76th birthday. He was found by his longtime housekeeper, a second she described as a peaceable passing.
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Richard Simmons Spent His Leisure Time Feeding Neighborhood Skunks
In her first-ever interview after Simmons’ passing, Reveles mirrored on his legacy and loss of life alongside her recollections as certainly one of his closest companions. She described his final days as “Joyful,” noting he hung out with the neighborhood skunks.
Each evening, a household of skunks visited Simmons’ again door in West Hollywood, the place he fed them peanuts by hand. He befriended the creatures to the purpose the place Reveles claimed he might contact their noses.
“‘Richard! They most likely have rabies!’ I might inform him,” Reveles recalled in her unique interview with PEOPLE. She couldn’t cease the feelings from swirling and broke down in tears, confessing she nonetheless hadn’t come to phrases along with his loss of life.
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“I am unable to cease crying. I nonetheless cannot imagine what occurred,” Simmons’ longtime confidente stated. She refused to cease the interview to honor his reminiscence, including, “I wish to rejoice Richard. He died joyful.”
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Simmons’ Housekeeper Recollects His Ultimate Moments
Other than feeding the neighborhood skunks, Reveles revealed Simmons spent his remaining days calling followers and answering their emails. He deliberate to take part in an ABC documentary about his life and do an interview with Diane Sawyer.
Simmons additionally wrote a Broadway musical primarily based on his life; nevertheless, issues all of a sudden modified when he fell and went to mattress. On the morning of his 76th birthday, he allegedly advised Reveles: “Teresa, I am unable to go down, my legs harm so much.”
“Let’s go to the hospital. Possibly you broke your leg,” Reveles replied, however he advised her, “No, Teresa. Not on my birthday. Why do not we wait and we do it within the morning.”
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Simmons Was Discovered Useless The Morning After His 76th Birthday
Though she adopted Simmons’ needs, Reveles could not assist however lament not taking him to the hospital. She recalled the state Simmons’ physique was in when she found him the subsequent morning, saying:
“After I noticed him, he appeared peaceable. However his fingers have been balled into fists. That is why I do know it was a coronary heart assault. I had a coronary heart assault a couple of years in the past, and my fingers did the identical.”
Reflecting on their decades-long relationship, Reveles claimed Simmons foresaw they’d be collectively till his loss of life. When she started working for him in 1986, he warmly welcomed her, saying:
“Teresa, are available in. You’re by no means going to depart. We’re going to be collectively till I die.”
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Simmons Deliberate To Relaunch His Health Profession
In her interview, Reveles shared that one of many causes for Simmons’ withdrawal from the highlight in 2014 was his look. He allegedly advised her, “I do not need folks to see me. I do not look that lovely anymore, Teresa.”
Regardless of his insecurities, The Blast reported that the wellness skilled’s older brother, Lenny, claimed he deliberate to relaunch his health profession earlier than his loss of life. He shared the information in an interview, saying:
“I believe the best way youngsters are rising up right this moment with their telephones and all that, and never getting out… there is a want once more, and I believe that is why he got here out of retirement.”
Though Lenny confessed that at 76, he did not assume his brother might sustain with the actions he did in his prime. Nonetheless, he believed the health guru’s exercise movies stay “simply as related now as they have been then.”
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Richard Simmons’ Ultimate Resting Place Adorned With Flowers
Days after his loss of life, The Blast shared that Simmons was laid to relaxation on the Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park and Mortuary in Los Angeles.
Photos of his gravesite went viral on social media, displaying that his remaining resting place had been adorned with vibrant flowers left by family members. The photographs got here on the heels of reviews about Simmons’ reason behind loss of life.
Sources near the matter claimed the 76-year-old’s fall may need contributed to his loss of life. Nonetheless, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Workplace has not revealed the official reason behind his loss of life.
Whereas the thriller behind Richard Simmons’ loss of life stays unsolved, followers can proceed to honor his reminiscence like Teresa Reveles with heartwarming tributes.
