The housekeeper of the late great Richard Simmons, who lived with the fitness guru for 35 years, has broken her silence for the first time since she found him dead earlier this month one day after his 76th birthday.
Simmons’ Housekeeper Speaks Out
Teresa Reveles was more than just a housekeeper for Simmons. She cooked for him, shopped for him, and oversaw the upkeep of his Los Angeles estate. Over the decades that Reveles lived with and worked for Simmons, the two became very close.
“August 9th is our 36th anniversary,” Reveles told People Magazine as she began to sob. “I can’t stop crying. I still can’t believe what happened.”
When asked if she would rather wait to speak out for the first time, Reveles replied, “No, I want to celebrate Richard. He died happy.”
Reveles found Simmons dead in his bedroom on the morning of July 13, one day after his 76th birthday.
“When I saw him, he looked peaceful,” she said, adding that Simmons’ hands were balled into fists at the time.
“That’s why I know it was a heart attack,” she continued. “I had a heart attack a few years ago, and my hands did the same.”
Related: Tragic New Details Emerge About Richard Simmons’ Death
Reveles Worked For Simmons For Decades
Reveles was hired to work for Simmons through an agency back in the 1980s.
“I showed up in here and Richard says to me, ‘Where are your clothes? Where is your big suitcase?’” she recalled. “I said, ‘I just bring the little suitcase because I only try this for two weeks. If you don’t like me or you don’t like my cooking, then I can’t work.’”
Simmons told her, “Teresa, come in, you are never going to leave. We are going to be together until I die.”
“And you know what? His dream came true,” she continued. “He knew somehow.”
Reveles became Simmons’ “companion,” with them basically living as a platonic couple. They traveled the world together, taking multiple vacations to Venice, Italy. They ate all their meals together and exercised together. Simmons would frequently leave notes for Reveles all over the house, and even under her pillow.
Their friendship was a playful one that included many jokes and pranks.
“If I was in the kitchen and then I come into the living room, he would hide and jump out, being so loud that he would scare me to death,” she remembered. “I’d start screaming, ‘Richard, you almost killed me!’” He’d just laugh and say, ‘Teresa, almost doesn’t count.’”
Simmons’ older brother Larry expressed his family’s appreciation for Reveles.
“Teresa was extremely loyal and trustworthy,” Larry said. “She loved my brother, and he loved her. We are blessed to have Teresa in our lives.”
Related: Richard Simmons’ Last Photo And Powerful Final Social Media Post Are Revealed
Simmons’ Retreat From Public Life
Reveles also opened up about when Simmons retreated from public life in 2014.
“Before that, he never was home,” she explained. “He only came sometimes for a weekend and then he had to leave Tuesday and then goes for 10 days and then would come back to the house for clothes or to see the dogs for two days, back and forth.”
Reveles believes that Simmons left public life partly because of knee problems.
“He could not exercise,” she said. “He could not teach his class. ‘Teresa, my knees hurt.’”
Reveles additionally found that Simmons became insecure about his looks as he aged.
“He thought he looked too old,” she said. “He did not want anyone to see him. But Richard looked the same. Okay, maybe a little older, like me, because we have to age. A little less hair. But he weighed the same, mostly. He was not as skinny.”
Simmons would often tell Reveles, “I don’t want people to see me. I don’t look that beautiful anymore, Teresa.”
Simmons’ Death
The day before his death, on his 76th birthday, Simmons suffered a fall in his bathroom. Reveles rushed to him and said, “Let’s go to the hospital. Maybe you broke your leg.” He told her, “No, Teresa. Not on my birthday. Why we don’t wait and we do it in the morning.”
“But in the morning it was too late,” she lamented.
Reveles is still living in Simmons’ home, but she is planning to move to a house that she owns in Mexico.
“Everything happened the way he wanted. He wanted to die first, he went first,” she stated. “And you know what? I’m very happy because Richard was really, very happy. He died very happy.”
Simmons loved Reveles so much that he bought two burial plots next to each other, with one for him and the other for her. At first, she resisted this idea because she wanted to be buried with her parents. Now, however, she wants to be buried with Simmons.
“Richard took me in, all those years ago. And he became like my father,” she explained. “He loved me before I loved him. He gave me beautiful jewelry. Every time he gave me something, in the early years, I was thinking, ‘He doesn’t know me! Why did he do this? Why did he do that?”
Days before his death, Simmons a diamond pin as an early anniversary present.
“Why?” Reveles asked Simmons. “Our anniversary is not for a few weeks. It’s almost here.”
“Because I want to do it now,” he replied. “You know, Teresa, almost doesn’t count.”
Rest in peace, Richard Simmons.
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