The secret birth defect that made Richard Simmons a superstar — and a recluse

For greater than three a long time, it appeared you couldn’t go anyplace in America with out seeing Richard Simmons.

The flamboyant health guru was a ubiquitous power, fronting informercials, publishing cookbooks and promoting tens of hundreds of thousands of exercise movies that revolutionized the train trade perpetually.

From 1980 onward, the frizzy-haired, gleefully eccentric entertainer was additionally a fixture on daytime and late-night TV discuss reveals, quipping with comedians and turning into some of the beloved celebrities within the nation.

However in 2014, Simmons — who had not too long ago, tearfully referred to himself as a “courtroom jester” — all of the sudden vanished from the highlight — and he hasn’t made a public look since.

Regardless of wild rumors that Simmons was being held hostage by his housekeeper and that he was present process gender reassignment surgical procedure to reside as a girl named “Fiona,” the true cause behind Simmons disappearance has remained a thriller — till now.

The brand new documentary “TMZ Investigates: What Actually Occurred to Richard Simmons,” streaming now on FOX and Hulu, claims the entertainer has been holed up in his Hollywood Hills residence as a consequence of a painful ailment that he has battled with since delivery — and has stored secret from his adoring public.

“One thing that occurred to him at delivery is instantly linked to his disappearance — a delivery defect that considerably affected one among his legs,” TMZ managing editor Fabian Garcia declared within the doc. “He was born with out a full set of bones in his foot and it causes bodily and emotional issues.”

“Richard discovered consolation in meals and he gained loads of weight,” doc producer Charles Latibeaudiere additional revealed. “And that put loads of stress on his knees.”

Now, some declare it was this early however enduring harm that spearheaded his eventual rise to popular culture legend — and his later downfall right into a world of loneliness and despair.

A childhood of ache

Simmons — born on July 12, 1948 — was raised in New Orleans, a legendary culinary vacation spot about which he claimed “lard was a meals group and dessert was obligatory.”

The exercise king claimed he “got here out of his mom’s womb with a fork” in his 1999 memoir “Nonetheless Hungry After All These Years: My Story.“

“I may acknowledge a bundle of bacon at 20 ft,” he recalled. “The strips of bacon regarded so weak, so flimsy, so unhappy, till they hit the frying pan. Then they started swimming and dancing, lacing up on the sides and turning golden brown.”

As a youngster, Simmons’ tastes matured, however he nonetheless opted for calorie-heavy choices, writing: “Puberty was graduating from Thousand Island salad dressing to Caesar salads … from scorching canines and hamburgers to beef stroganoff … from ice cream in a cone to crème brulée.”

Simmons’ weight problems had a massively destructive impact on his self-worth, as he emotionally recalled in a Eighties interview, which within the new TMZ doc is featured as flashback footage.

“I went by means of loads of harm as a toddler. I used to be the biggest youngster at school. On the age of 15, I used to be 200 kilos. I went to my first Halloween occasion dressed as a sofa. I used to be the one made enjoyable of. I felt very unhealthy about myself,” he mentioned.

By the point he graduated from highschool, Simmons tipped the scales at 238 kilos — and he was heavy on the self-loathing.

“He would attempt to maintain again tears as a result of boys would decide on him,” childhood good friend Antoinette DiPi advised Individuals, saying Simmons suffered fixed bullying due to his heavyset body, which was already taking a toll on his broken foot, leg and knee.

The star himself advised Oprah Winfrey in a Eighties interview that he developed an consuming dysfunction after highschool, saying: “I ended consuming and I received to 119 kilos and I used to be within the hospital.”

“I began picturing meals because the enemy. Once I noticed spaghetti, I noticed worms. You get to imagine in our society that solely the skinny individuals are profitable,” he continued.

Nevertheless, Simmons finally used the delivery defect in his foot as gasoline to turn out to be match and wholesome. He adopted “a life-style of stability, reasonable consuming and train” that allowed him to take care of a wholesome weight.

And though he managed to shed the kilos, he by no means managed to shed the insecurity that accompanied his weight problems and the delivery defect he stored hid from all people.

Insecure

After relocating to Los Angeles in his early 20s, Simmons realized that health services solely focused those that had been already in form.

Understanding the adversity of weight problems, he opened his personal gymnasium and commenced conducting courses that targeted on a rarity within the period of more and more fashionable “hookup” gymnasium tradition: He appealed to and supported attendees of all styles and sizes.

Exercise movies quickly adopted, with viewers falling for Simmons’ exuberant and eccentric character.

Clad in scorching pants and bedazzled tank tops, the famous person’s light-hearted strategy helped make health really feel enjoyable and accessible to obese People who had lengthy been intimidated by sculpted and self-serious trainers.

His 1988 VHS “Sweatin’ To The Oldies” grew to become the most important promoting health residence video of all time, grossing north of $200 million.

However, whereas viewers liked the campy persona that Simmons offered to the general public, he grew to become a punchline for comedians throughout the nation — and it took a non-public toll on him.

The brand new TV particular — produced by TMZ, the workers at which have spent years chronicling the star’s disappearance — states that the sassy, confident model of himself that he offered to the general public was merely a entrance, and that Simmons was a profoundly shy and delicate soul who struggled with being made enjoyable of.

The star was a frequent visitor on “Late Present with David Letterman,” on which he usually bantered with the present’s legendary host. However throughout a 2000 look, Letterman, 75, hosed Simmons down on-air with a hearth extinguisher, leaving the health guru visibly upset. He refused to return to the present for six years.

In the meantime, in response to the brand new doc, “Three’s Firm” star Suzanne Somers revealed a tragic encounter with Simmons behind-the-scenes at a chat present.

“One night time I used to be on the Larry King present and he was both going to be a visitor or speculated to be a visitor, and I heard by means of the Larry King those who he didn’t wish to be on the present with me,” Somers, 75, recalled. “I mentioned, ‘Why?’ and he mentioned, ‘She’ll make enjoyable of me.’ And that’s not my fashion, I by no means make enjoyable of anyone. However that’s once I realized a bit of insecurity has gotten in there.”

She continued: “I preferred him. I used to be all the time so shocked when he thought I’d make enjoyable of him. However doesn’t that present you he’s received a heartache? One thing’s damaged inside as a result of he did it. He had it after which let it go.”

The insecure star additionally struggled with different facets of his look, admitting that he had three “horribly painful” hair transplants after his anorexia battle resulted in hair loss.

“I’ve had hair transplants, however you’ll be able to solely achieve this a lot, so I’ve 12 hairs left and I simply spray them, toss them and make it appear like a salad. I’m glad I’ve hair on my head, ?” he advised Leisure Tonight in 2011.

In the meantime, the extremely empathetic train entrepreneur allegedly struggled to separate himself from the struggles of his weight-reduction plan devotees.

“There’s a super burden you tackle once you join with so many individuals which are sharing their challenges with you,” Dr. Phil McGraw, 71, says within the TMZ particular. “It might probably actually drag you down.”

In the meantime, one former attendee at Simmons’ gymnasium mentioned the star would “would cry till snot got here out of his nostril” as a result of he was so emotionally invested within the wellbeing of his followers.

A ‘loner’ for all times

The famous person all of the sudden stopped performing in public in 2014, citing issues together with his knee.

In keeping with the documentary, Simmons underwent a proper knee alternative that left him in a substantial quantity of ache.

Medical doctors subsequently advised him that he additionally wanted a left knee alternative, however he refused have the surgical procedure after being too traumatized by the primary operation.

“We all know nonetheless that to today, Richard nonetheless hasn’t gotten corrective surgical procedure on his left knee,” TMZ’s Harvey Levin reveals within the doc. “He walks with a cane and that explains rather a lot. He’s simply not the identical man anymore.”

Levin, 71, provides that the choice for Simmons to retreat from public life has additionally been about preserving his model: “He wished to be remembered as vibrant and wholesome — not an aged man with medical issues.”

However the documentary additionally hinted that Simmons could also be relishing his quiet life away from the digicam, claiming he has all the time been “withdrawn and a loner.”

Even on the top of his fame, the publicly daring and brash Simmons most well-liked to spend nights at residence alone, with a barren social calendar that made each Boo Radley and Howard Hughes appear like socialites.

The LAPD carried out a welfare examine on Simmons at his plush Hollywood Hills residence in 2016, amid considerations his longtime housekeeper Teresa Reveles was holding him in opposition to his will.

However cops discovered that the famous person was “articulate, relaxed and lucid” — showing to be dwelling completely happy at residence with solely his housekeeper as firm.

The one impairment, police seen on the time of their go to, was a “slight limp in his knee.”

“Nobody is holding me hostage,” Simmons subsequently declared in a cellphone interview with Right this moment. “I do what I wish to do, as I’ve all the time carried out. Individuals ought to all the time imagine what I’ve to say, as a result of I’m Richard Simmons.”

Reps for Simmons politely declined the The Put up’s request for touch upon renewed curiosity in his retreat from public life.