The disappearance of Richard Simmons
Richard Simmons became everyone’s favourite after her helped lots of people lose weight during the 80s.
In 2014, Richard, the fitness guru and enthusiast suddenly disappeared from the public eye leaving no trace behind.
But recently the reason seem to have been discovered and it may surprise you as it wasn’t what we all thought.
Richard Simmons was born on July 12, 1948. He was born crippled and had to wear corrective shoes from an early age.
He grew up in th French quarters with his parents who were both in the show industry. His first “gig” came when he sold pralines in the street corners of the French Quarter.
”I sold pralines, these little candies on the street corner to bring extra money in for my parents. And I would have to be cute and adorable and fun and sing and smile and they bought my candy. And I learned a long time ago that humor was just simply a gift and that if you made people happy it was certainly a lot better than making them sad. So I’ve always been that clown or court jester,” Richard said.
As a child, Richard was overweight and binged a lot on fried foods. ”I was completely obsessed with food. I began reading cookbooks when I was 6, because my father had hundreds of cookbooks in the kitchen. I was obsessed with cooking and tasting different recipes,” he told Men’s Health.
At the age of 15, he weighed 182 and when he graduated from School it was nearly over 270 pounds.
“I mean, I was mucho big. You know how they teach you early on that ‘Sticks and stones may break your bones, but words will never hurt you?’Well that’s a lie,” Simmons told the New Orleans Times-Picayune in 1983.
It came as surprise to many when he became interested in fitness and started living a balanced life.
He decided to help those who are battling with their weight by starting a fitness crusade. The crusade became a success and brought Richard to stardom. He started making appears on TV shows and became a TV personality.
”I walked on that show and I must’ve been like an alien to them. But they were so kind and they really taught me a lot.
And then meeting the General Hospital fans in different shopping malls around the United States, the whole experience was just mesmerizing to me.
I couldn’t believe that all of these people would even come out and see me,” Richard told Men’s Health in 2012.
In 2014, Richard suddenly disappeared from the public eye leaving little or no clue on what he has been up to. In the end, however, a statement was released:
“In 1974, I opened Slimmons as a way to help people make positive changes in their lives by having fun while exercising.
The reason for the closing was that Simmons had been hospitalized for severe dehydration, and the fitness star needed to take some time to “take care of himself.”
It was a place to make friends, listen to and learn from others, lose weight and gain confidence. These were all the reasons I went to Slimmons too!”
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