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Richard Simmons Missing Again? Why He Wants To Be Left Alone

By Stacey Cole
Published on: 02:05 PST, Mar 21, 2017

News of Richard Simmons missing has been around for three years. On February 15, 2014, Richard Simmons didn’t show up to teach a class at his Beverly Hills fitness studio, and ever since then, he’s been absent from the public eye.

Disappearing all of a sudden without offering any explanations whatsoever, especially for someone who has been in the public eye for more than four decades, is a mystery.

And host Dan Taberski decided to dig into that mystery with his hit podcast Missing Richard Simmons, which Taberski himself sees as a way to communicate with Richard Simmons to possibly convince him to come back. But apparently Richard Simmons doesn’t want that attention from the media and is not planning on returning to the spotlight anytime soon, according to People magazine citing the fitness guru’s manager, Michael Catalano.

“Dan said to me, people just want to have a chance to thank him and congratulate him and let him sort of have a final send-off. But he doesn’t require that!”

It was the sixth appearance of Catalano on Taberski’s podcast, and Richard Simmons’ manager insists that the fitness guru is “not asking for a curtain call.”

“You can’t force it on someone.”

Catalano claims to be the only one who can explain why Richard Simmons is missing. Catalano has worked with Richard Simmons for nearly 30 years, assisting the fitness guru with his appearances on the media and fitness classes across the U.S.

In his interview with People magazine, Catalano revealed that Richard Simmons followed an exhausting tour schedule, which may have eventually become the reason for Richard Simmons going missing.

Simmons’ manager says it was always “nonstop” working with the fitness guru, as he kept starting the day as early as possible.

“I’d say, Richard, well our first radio interview is at 4:30, and he’d say, well what about 4:00? What about 4:00? I’d say, Richard, it’ll be 4:30, and it would just be all day. He loved it.”

But four decades of such a tight and exhausting schedule can take a toll on anyone, even on fitness guru Richard Simmons. So now, Simmons’ manager thinks, the fitness guru wants to focus on enjoying his life at home, which may explain why Richard Simmons went missing.

Catalano insists, however, that there have been no “no event or any real reason” for Richard Simmons to leave the public eye all of a sudden, as there has been no “awful thing,” such as “a death in the family” or “something he was having trouble coping with.”

There are those who think Catalano may be lying about why is Richard Simmons missing. Some go as far as alleging that Richard Simmons was murdered and his long-time manager may have something to do with it.

In the final episode of Taberski’s Missing Richard Simmons, the fitness guru’s manager insisted that the scrutiny from the media is only harming Simmons. Catalano stopped short of blaming Taberski’s podcast for all the nonsense theories circulating on the Internet about why Richard Simmons went missing. Richard Simmons manager said the podcast has “created more worry and speculation.”

Catalano wrapped the podcast by saying that Richard Simmons has “earned” to live a peaceful life out of the spotlight without having to say goodbye to anyone or explain why he decided to abandon his 40 years in the public eyes all of a sudden.

“It has to be what he wants. He certainly has the right to write the ending.”

Richard Simmons has released some 67 tapes containing pre-recorded fitness classes. However, the fitness guru attributes his success to one particular tape called Sweatin’ To The Oldies, which he released in 1988.

[Featured Image by Helga Esteb/Shutterstock]

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