Los Angeles, May 12, 2026, 09:04 PDT
- At 9 p.m. EDT this Tuesday, ABC puts “The Mystery of Richard Simmons: A Diane Sawyer Special” on air.
- Simmons’ longtime house manager, Teresa Reveles, offers a rare look into his private years, stepping forward with her own account.
- The special looks back at Simmons’ intended comeback, his death in 2024, and the unanswered questions that remain.
ABC is bringing Richard Simmons’ last ten years to the spotlight again this Tuesday, handing Diane Sawyer a one-hour special that leans on fresh interviews—including Simmons’ longtime house manager Teresa Reveles and others close to him. Reveles told ABC the fitness icon slipped out of his home incognito during his long retreat from the public eye, sometimes dressing “as a clown,” other times “as a woman.” ABC News
The program arrives almost two years since Simmons’ death and roughly ten years since he stepped out of the public spotlight back in 2014—a move that stirred plenty of rumors about his well-being and whether he was making his own decisions. ABC plans to explore his ascent, his sudden vanishing act, the talk of a return, and his eventual passing.
Disney is taking a different approach with this special, opting for a linear TV debut in a space packed with celebrity docs. ABC will air the program from 9:00 to 9:59 p.m. EDT, followed by next-day streaming releases on Disney+ and Hulu—a strategy that splits the rollout between broadcast and digital. ABC News Studios has recently pushed out projects like “Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields,” “BRATS,” “Barbara Walters Tell Me Everything,” and “Emma and Bruce Willis: The Unexpected Journey.” ABC
For 30 years, Reveles was on Simmons’ staff and remained especially close to him as his health declined. In an ABC interview, she recalled that Simmons would sometimes leave the house in disguise—“Nobody knows [it] was him,” she said—and she’d be the one behind the wheel, taking him on drives to check out fresh construction and new shops around town. ABC News
Sawyer recounted to ABC7 Los Angeles that Simmons broke years of quiet by reaching out, sending her flowers and cards that read “I trust you,” and telling her he wanted to share his story. “It was the old Richard,” Sawyer recalled. “And then, as we know, not long after, he died.” ABC7 Los Angeles
The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner has called Simmons’ death accidental. According to the agency, the cause was “sequelae of blunt traumatic injuries”—that is, complications stemming from physical trauma—with arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease also noted as a contributing factor. Simmons reportedly suffered a fall on July 11, 2024, remained in bed the following day, and was discovered unresponsive on July 13. Los Angeles County Medical Examiner
Lenny Simmons, Cathy Simmons, and Michael Catalano—Richard Simmons’ brother, sister-in-law, and longtime manager—make appearances in the special. According to People, the trailer shows Catalano remarking that Simmons “felt the love,” prompting Sawyer to note, “it just got real quiet.” That short moment captures the show’s central mystery: what drove such a public figure to step away from the spotlight. People
Simmons made his name with a public, hands-on approach to fitness. According to ABC7, he launched an exercise studio, played himself on “General Hospital,” fronted “The Richard Simmons Show,” and was a fixture in the 1980s thanks to his “Sweatin’ to the Oldies” workout tapes. ABC7 Los Angeles
Still, the special likely won’t crack the main enigma. Simmons passed before he could sit down with Sawyer, so while the medical report covers the how, it can’t touch the reasons he pulled back or what he meant to reveal after making contact. The narrative now sits with his family, friends, employees, and the show’s producers—not Simmons.
ABC rolled out a fresh segment Tuesday, “The mystery of Richard Simmons’ final days,” with Sawyer digging into the fitness icon’s world—and what’s emerging about those last days. The network’s gambling on lingering curiosity. ABC News
