Our reporters across the U.S. deliver the latest headlines straight to your inbox every day
Bringing you the latest news from across the United States
Theresa Reveles, who worked as Richard Simmons’ live-in housekeeper for nearly 40 years, has broken her silence following the death of the 76-year-old Simmons.
Reveles, 73, has been living with the late workout guru in California since 1987. people He died of a heart attack in his bedroom at home, the day after his recent birthday.
“When I saw him, he seemed calm,” she said, “but his hands were clenched into fists, so I knew it was a heart attack. I had a heart attack a few years ago, and my fists were clenched the same way.”
The day before her death, Simmons had been unable to get out of bed and complained of pain in her legs, but refused to go to hospital for treatment.
She told him, “Let’s go to the hospital. Maybe you’ve broken your leg.” He replied, “No, Teresa. Not on my birthday. Let’s do it in the morning, no waiting.”
But, she says, “it was too late in the morning.”
During a 2017 podcast, Simmons’ friend Mauro Oliveira accused Reveles of holding Simmons “hostage,” but a rep for Simmons told People at the time that this was “complete bullshit.”
She continues to live in Simmons’ home but now plans to move to a property she owns in Mexico.
“Everything happened just the way he wanted it,” she said. “He wanted to die first, and he did. And you know what happened? I’m very happy because Richard was very happy indeed. He died very happy.”
she said people She began working for Mr. Simmons through an agency, and on the first day she arrived at Mr. Simmons’ home, she had a small suitcase, but Mr. Simmons asked her where the rest of her belongings were.
“Richard said to me, ‘Where are your clothes? Where is your big suitcase?’ And I said, ‘I only brought a small suitcase because I’m only going to try it for two weeks. If you don’t like me or if you don’t like my cooking, I can’t work,'” she said.
Simmons responded: “Theresa, come in. You’re never leaving. We’re going to be together until I die.”
Reveles said people assumed she was Simmons’ housekeeper, but that was a misunderstanding.
“His housekeeper is different, and she’s been here for 40 years.” During her time with Simmons, Reveles shopped for him, took care of the house and garden and cooked for him. Aug. 9 was their 36th wedding anniversary, she said.
Simmons first rose to fame in 1974 when he opened Ruffage and the Anatomy Asylum, a health food restaurant and exercise studio. He went on to write nine books and diet plans, appear in infomercials and produce his own workout videos that sold millions of copies.
Simmons’ social isolation in recent years led to fan speculation and tabloid reporters hounding Revelez, who later filed a police complaint in 2019 after discovering two tracking devices had been planted under her car.
Reveles said as Simmons got older he didn’t want to go out as much.
“He didn’t want anyone to look at him,” she said, “but Richard looked the same. Yes, he may have gotten a little older, like me, but we all have to get older. He had a little less hair, but he weighed the same. He wasn’t as skinny as he used to be.”
She said he repeatedly told her, “I don’t want people to look at me. I’m not that beautiful anymore, Teresa.”
Simmons found solace by hand-feeding a family of skunks on the back porch of his home in West Hollywood, Calif. Reveles said Simmons had been hand-feeding them peanuts, adding that he had tried to warn them that the animals had rabies.
The women said the star would give them gifts — recently a diamond pin — and take them on trips, often to Venice, Italy.
