There he was in all his hyperactive, hot-panted, glittering glory.
It was 2003, and fresh-faced comedian Ellen DeGeneres — host of a hit new talk show — braced herself as she introduced her next guest: ‘Please buckle your seat belts and clap as fast as you can for the one-and-only… Richard Simmons!!’
Out bounded the charismatic fitness guru – wide-eyed and effervescent – slapping high-fives in the audience and leaping into one man’s arms.
Everyone was laughing with him — at him – and he was in on the joke.
That iconic episode of Ellen is recreated in a new 10-minute short film, released last week, starring has-been 90s actor Pauly Shore, 55, as Simmons — with plans for a full feature-length biopic already in the pipeline.
The short film imagines a poignant backstage moment between Simmons — now 75 — and an undervalued, overweight Ellen production assistant.
A new 10-minute short film, released last week, stars has-been 90s actor Pauly Shore, 55, as Richard Simmons (pictured). Plans for a full feature-length biopic are already in the pipeline.
The short film imagines a poignant backstage moment between Simmons and an undervalued, overweight production assistant.
‘I know what it’s like to want to disappear,’ Shore’s Simmons tells the hopeless man.
And it’s exactly that sparkling preternatural empathy that turned Simmons and his ‘Sweatin’ to the Oldies’ workout tapes into a global sensation.
But in recent years, the gleefully optimistic man-boy beloved by America has become a shell of his former self.
No longer a buzzing pixie, Simmons begs to be left alone after he disappeared entirely from public view for nearly three years in 2014 — only to then find himself the target of a shocking National Enquirer report, which published tawdry pictures of him cross-dressing and alleged Simmons had a secret sex-change operation.
Now, this devoutly private man is being thrust back into the spotlight once again — and a longtime friend of Simmons exclusively tells DailyMail.com that Simmons fears fresh humiliation.
He feels ‘backed into a corner’ by Hollywood’s sudden rush to exploit his life story, the source says.
And, considering his history of being betrayed by those he trusted, no one could blame him.
On February 15, 2014, Simmons all but dropped off the face of the earth when he failed to show up to the Beverly Hills exercise class he had led for over 40 years.
His disappearance drove headlines around the globe: ‘Richard Simmons: Missing for 1,000 days.’
There was a feeding frenzy in the media: What would drive one of the most extroverted characters in America to abruptly become a recluse?
Then the Daily News reported a theory: wild claims from Simmons’s former masseur, a Brazilian named Mauro Oliveira, that his housekeeper was using ‘black magic’ to hold him prisoner in his own home.
Simmons was finally forced to publicly respond: ‘I am not kidnapped,’ he said on a phone call with Entertainment Tonight.
‘No one is holding me in my house as a hostage,’ he assured. He simply needed ‘to take some time to be by himself’.
On February 15, 2014, Simmons all but dropped off the face of the earth when he failed to show up to the Beverly Hills exercise class he had led for over 40 years. Then the Daily News reported a theory: wild claims from Simmons’s former masseur, a Brazilian named Mauro Oliveira (left), that his housekeeper (right) was using ‘black magic’ to hold him prisoner.
Simmons was finally forced to publicly respond: ‘I am not kidnapped,’ he said on a phone call with Entertainment Tonight.
‘No one is holding me in my house as a hostage,’ he assured. He simply needed ‘to take some time to be by himself’.
But then it got a whole lot worse.
Months later, in June 2016, the National Enquirer and Radar Online alleged that Simmons had secretly undergone gender-reassignment surgery to live as a ‘soft-spoken’ woman named ‘Fiona’.
It was claimed that he’d had breast implant surgery as well as hormone therapy over the course of two years.
Alongside the report were a series of images showing Simmons cross-dressing in white fur-lined women’s lingerie, wearing thigh-high boots and a wig.
In one picture, Simmons lies on the side of a bathtub, legs splayed, nails painted silver, wearing a diamond ring and bracelet.
As it turns out, the pictures were sold to the publication by Mauro Oliveira — the Brazilian masseur Simmons had once employed.
Simmons then sued for defamation in 2017, but lost and was ordered by a court to pay the $130,000 legal fees accrued by the publishers.
Simmons has always maintained that he is not transgender but the ordeal only pushed him further inward, away from a cruel world that had made him the punchline.
Perhaps, it felt too familiar.
As a child, Simmons struggled with his weight. ‘I came out of my mother’s womb with a fork,’ he wrote in his 1999 memoir, Still Hungry After All These Years.
By the time he was a teenager, Simmons weighed 238 pounds and was bullied relentlessly in school.
‘I went through a lot of hurt as a child,’ he said in an interview. ‘I went to my first Halloween party dressed as a couch. I was the one made fun of. I felt very bad about myself.’
After relocating to Los Angeles in his early 20s, Simmons decided to transform his life, opening a Beverly Hills gym in 1974 called ‘Slimmons’, catering to overweight clients.
It was an instant, revolutionary hit – largely because most fitness facilities at the time served those already in good shape.
By 1988 he was a household name, with his first VHS tape, ‘Sweatin’ to the Oldies’, becoming the bestselling home fitness video of all time, grossing north of $200 million.
Clad in hot pants and bedazzled tank tops, Simmons was soon a common fixture on late-night television – and, more often than not, the object of good-natured ribbing, especially during his many appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman.
But while Simmons laughed along, the jokes clearly began to take their toll.
In the months before his sudden disappearance, gym attendees would describe how Simmons frequently broke down in the middle of classes.
After relocating to Los Angeles in his early 20s, Simmons decided to transform his life, opening a Beverly Hills gym in 1974 called ‘Slimmons’, catering to overweight clients. It was an instant, revolutionary hit.
By 1988 he was a household name, with his first VHS tape, ‘Sweatin’ to the Oldies’, becoming the bestselling home fitness video of all time, grossing north of $200 million. (Pictured: on Jay Leno’s show).
Clad in hot pants and bedazzled tank tops, Simmons was soon a common fixture on late-night television – and, more often than not, the object of good-natured ribbing, especially during his many appearances on The Late Show with David Letterman (pictured). But while Simmons laughed along, the jokes clearly began to take their toll.
‘He was always searching for an identity and tried hard to please everyone,’ a source close to Simmons told DailyMail.com.
It’s no wonder then that Hollywood is keen to tell this most fascinating life story.
Shore – who, as reported on Thursday, is currently being sued for assault and battery after he allegedly attacked a security guard in 2022 – told People magazine in September last year that he’d been inspired to play Simmons after a viral meme showing side-by-side images of the two.
It was captioned: ‘Someone is going to write a Richard Simmons biopic and Pauly Shore is going to win an Oscar.’
No doubt, Shore’s 10-minute short was already in production.
Then, earlier this month, it was reported that Warner Bros was working with Shore to develop a full-length biopic.
Just hours after the announcement, 75-year-old Simmons took to Facebook to make a rare public statement:
‘Hi Everybody! You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read.’
Undeterred, Shore – best known for his role in the 1993 comedy ‘Encino Man’ and whose last big hit ‘Bio-Dome’ premiered in 1996 – screened his 10-minute short ‘The Court Jester’ last week during the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
‘Tonight, [Simmons] texted me and said “good luck on the show”,’ Shore told the audience, ‘So let’s give it up for Richard Simmons!’
A source from Simmons’ camp told DailyMail.com that he felt he had no choice but to wish Shore well.
Shore – who, as was reported on Thursday, is currently being sued for assault and battery after he allegedly attacked a security guard – told People magazine in September last year that he’d been inspired to play Simmons after a viral meme showing side-by-side images of the two.
‘Richard felt backed into a corner because he knew that the show would go on with or without him. He reluctantly gave his approval,’ the source said.
‘Richard cares deeply for his fans but is just so worried about being the butt of the joke.’
For his part, Shore says he ‘comes from a place of love,’ and that his goal is to create a movie that ‘celebrates’ Simmons.
‘He told Richard he does not want to hurt him,’ sources close to Simmons said.
Time will tell if the former perma-sunny star is set to be humiliated all over again.
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