Richard Simmons Disappearance: Fitness Guru Assures Friends He's OK, Phone Interview Brings More Mystery - Full Details!

Richard Simmons has finally come out and reacted to reports that he's being held hostage in his own home. The fitness guru clarified the reason for his absence from the public eye in the last two years. Despite this, his friends remain skeptical about the whole deal.

In a phone interview, Simmons, 67, said that he's doing fine and that he's taking it easy - a fact that should not worry his friends who no longer see him. He also denied reports his housekeeper, Teresa Reveles, is keeping him from leaving his house because she knows witchcraft. Simmons clarified all the allegations.

"I love all the people who worry about me," Simmons told Entertainment Tonight. "But it was time for me to take some time to be by myself." After classes, traveling and a knee injury operation, Simmons taught it was best to take things slow. "I have really just been taking it easy, staying at home, working out in my gym and doing the things I haven't done in a very long time."

His former assistant, Mauro Oliveira, expressed his concerns for Simmons to the media and alleged that the housekeeper is the one in control of the fitness star's life. The staff is supposedly keeping Simmons hostage, despite denials from Simmons' rep that nothing of that sort is happening, per ABC News.

Simmons made it clear in the phone interview that he's being cared for by "wonderful people" so his other friends must not be worried. "Teresa Reveles has been with me for 30 years. It's almost like we're a married couple," he said in another phone interview with Today.

However, following the revelation, Oliviera told New York Daily News that the circumstances are still odd because Simmons didn't agree to an interview in front of the camera. "He didn't sound like he was in a good place. He sounded depressed," said Oliviera. "The people who care about him want to see his face,"

Simmons' last public appearance was during a 2013 Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. He was also last photographed in public in 2014.