Diane Sawyer uncovers 'The Mystery of Richard Simmons,' the famed fitness guru, in latest special
Investigate what happened to fitness guru Richard Simmons when he disappeared into obscurity for a decade.
Known for his energetic and positive persona, fitness instructor and TV personality Richard Simmons led a captivating life, until his puzzling disappearance in 2014 and sudden death a decade later.
Emmy Award-winning journalist Diane Sawyer digs into it all in "The Mystery of Richard Simmons: A Diane Sawyer Special."
Phillip Palmer spoke with Sawyer about the special - and her personal involvement in the story.
Simmons rose to fame in the late '70s and early '80s. After developing a love for fitness, he opened his own exercise studio where he led a series of motivational and aerobics classes. Eventually, he landed a recurring role on "General Hospital," portraying himself, and then his own show "The Richard Simmons Show." Simmons also led some of the most popular exercise videos of the '80s, including "Sweatin' to the Oldies."
Sawyer explains, "He came with a great purpose, which was to reach out to everybody of all sizes. And somebody said, 'love them back to health.' And that was his mission, and it fueled him night and day."
"You couldn't go anywhere without seeing Richard Simmons," Palmer adds.
"Yes, and he was hilarious and surprising. And he kind of lit up the room every time he arrived - surprised everybody," says Sawyer.
And surprise everybody he did.
10 years after his sudden seclusion, which began in 2014, Sawyer received a message from Simmons.
"I get a phone call, and he sends me an incredible number of flowers. Each had the same card on it, 'I trust you.' And we talked on the phone, and he said he was ready to come tell his story," Sawyer tells Palmer. "It was the old Richard. And then, as we know, not long after, he died."
Shortly after his death, Simmons' brother reached out to Sawyer to finish telling his story, along with those closest to the star.
Sawyer compared the experience to "a mosaic. (It) gave me tiles and pieces of the mosaic to put together who he was before he decided to go into hiding, who they think he was during it, and what might have happened if he had come back."
"The Mystery of Richard Simmons: A Diane Sawyer Special" premieres tonight, May 12, at 9/8c on ABC and streams the next day on Disney+ and Hulu.
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