Richard Simmons is alive and doing well.
According to Richard Simmons, at least.
Over the weekend, The New York Daily News ran a lengthy article in which it alleged that the fitness guru had been taken hostage.
The publication wrote that Simmons was being held against his will inside his Hollywood Hills mansion – for an extended period of time.
But while it’s true that Simmons has been out of the public spotlight for while, he would like everyone to know that everything is just fine.
Thanks for the concern, though!
“No one should be worried about me,” Simmons told Entertainment Tonight Executive Producer, Brad Bessey, by phone.
“The people that surround me are wonderful people who take great care of me.”
Simmons emphasized that he is “not kidnapped” and has simply remained in his home after knee replacement surgery left him in a lot of pain.
The high-spirited workout fiend has not been seen in public since January 2014.
“I love all the people who worry about me,” he reiterated.
“But it was time for me to take some time to be by myself.”
“For the last 40 years I have been traveling, teaching classes, and I had a knee injury, so I had a knee replacement, which was very difficult for me …”
“I have really just been taking it easy, staying at home, working out in my gym and doing the things I haven’t done in a very long time.”
Simmons, 67, says he still exercises everyday and weighs a fit 150 pounds.
“This is how I want to live my life right now,” he concludes. “And to all the people that are worried about me, please don’t be.”
“If I was in any trouble, if I was hurting in any way, I would reach out.”
“It is time right now for Richard Simmons to take care of Richard Simmons.”
Case closed?