Suzanne Somers’ last meeting with ‘broken’ Richard Simmons before disappearance

Suzanne Somers has opened up about her last meeting with workout guru Richard Simmons, shortly before he abruptly vanished from the public eye.

Legendary US workout guru Richard Simmons hasn’t been seen since 2014, when he vanished from the public eye.

Suzanne Somers recalled her last encounter with him in the new “TMZ Investigates” documentary What Really Happened To Richard Simmons – and how she observed “heartache” in the mysterious star, New York Post reports.

Simmons, 74, was last seen on February 15, 2014, when he closed his fitness studio and ceased all teaching.

Somers, 75, looked back in the documentary about her last moments with Simmons, noting how she was supposed to see him on Larry King Live one evening.

“One night I was on the Larry King show and he was either going to be a guest or supposed to be a guest, and I heard through the Larry King people that he didn’t want to be on the show with me,” she said in a clip from the documentary, obtained by People.

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Richard Simmons retreated from the public eye. Picture: EPA/Jason Szenes

Actress Suzanne Somers. Picture: Michael Kovac/Getty Images

Simmons was a regular on the late-night talk show circuit throughout the years.

Somers went on: “I said, ‘Why?’ and he said, ‘She’ll make fun of me.’ And that’s not my style, I never make fun of anybody. But that’s when I realised a little insecurity has gotten in there.

“I liked him. I was always so surprised when he thought I’d make fun of him. But doesn’t that show you he’s got a heartache? Something’s broken inside because he did it. He had it and then let it go,” she said.

Simmons made a career as a fitness guru.

Simmons emerged back into the spotlight in a small way during the coronavirus pandemic, when he re-released workout videos on his YouTube channel to help others stay fit while in lockdown in 2020.

In 2017, Simmons spoke out for the first time in three years following his hospitalisation for stomach problems.

“Hello to everyone who has shown concern for me and sent their good wishes,” the fitness guru told People in a statement at the time.

“You will never know how much it means to me. Aren’t you sick of hearing and reading about me? LOL. Well by now you know that I’m not ‘missing,’ just a little under the weather. I’m sure I will be feeling good and back home in a couple of days.”

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission