Yahoo News Richard Simmons' final days included feeding local skunks, house manager says
Teresa Reveles lived with Simmons for 35 years.
When Richard Simmons died July 13, it was Teresa Reveles, his house manager who had lived with him for 35 years, who found him.
"I can't stop crying. I still can't believe what happened," Reveles told PEOPLE in her first interview, published Monday. But when asked if she'd rather talk about her longtime boss and friend later, she flatly refused.
"No, I want to celebrate Richard," she told the magazine. "He died happy."
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Richard Simmons died July 13Reveles said she believes he had a heart attack, because he looked "peaceful," although his hands were balled up. The Los Angeles Fire Department said at the time of his death that it was from natural causes.
"That's why I know it was a heart attack," Reveles said. "I had a heart attack a few years ago, and my hands did the same."
She noted that Simmons, who spent more time at home in his later years, enjoyed simple pleasures in his later years. For one, he liked feeding a family of skunks that would show up at the door of his home in West Hollywood, Calif., and would feed them peanuts by hand, even touching their noses, she said.
Reveles explained that Simmons told her in 2014 that he was finished with his career, which had been driven by his Sweatin' to the Oldies videos. His knees caused him too much pain, and she said that he could no longer jump after a knee replacement surgery.
Related: Richard Simmons in final interview before his death: 'It's so hard to say goodbye'
"When he told me that, I thought, He's kidding. He can't do that," she recalled. "But he said, 'I want to be Richard. If I'm not going to be Richard...' — you know, with famous people they say, 'The day I can't be myself, then I have to stop working.’ And that's why he did it."
Simmons often said that he didn't want people to see him then, Reveles said, and he would wear masks, wigs, and glasses to disguise himself in public.
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His last days were spent communicating with fans, she said. He was also working on an ABC documentary about his life and a Broadway musical on the same topic.
He gave a rare interview with the same outlet two days before he died, in which he asked to read part of the Broadway project.
Related: The evolution of Richard Simmons
"How do you deal with loss? It takes a toll on your heart," he read. "Some shed many tears, others stare at the sky. It's so hard to say goodbye. Here is what I know: When it's time for us to go, beautiful angels will greet us with a smile and a hello."
Later that day, Reveles said, he fell.
The next day was his birthday, but he couldn't get out of bed, which concerned Reveles enough that she suggested they go to the hospital. He wanted to wait one more day.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
