Richard Simmons Closes Fitness Studio After 40 Years

Richard Simmons, who opened a world famous fitness studio in 1974, has decided to close it down after more than 40 years. The studio’s final class was held in Los Angeles this Saturday.

Simmons, 68, is a fitness icon who helped many others achieve their weight loss and fitness goals. He dubs his fans “Slimmons” and wrote a heartfelt post to them on Facebook about the closing of the studio.

“I will not see you today because I am not very good at endings. I would just spend the whole time hugging and crying. My eyes would get puffy and red, my hair would get all frizzy and I’d be a mess,” he wrote. “I cannot bear to be sad today. And you shouldn’t be sad either. This should be a celebration of our forty-plus years together dancin’ and sweatin’. So let’s turn this ending into a new beginning.”

Simmons said that he is ready to enter a new chapter of his life. “I am being kind to myself, and putting myself first,” he wrote. “I am making changes and taking time to do the things I want to do. Please know that I am in good health and I am happy. No one has ever been able to tell me what to do and the same is true today. I am still independent, determined and opinionated. I simply am making a new beginning for myself — quietly and in my very own special way.”

Simmons encouraged his fans to keep making health a priority, and be “kind to your body and kind to yourself.”

Simmons’ representative told People: “[Richard] has decided to live quietly the last few years. He had knee surgery a few years ago and has a bum knee. He is still on Twitter and Facebook and works behind the scenes continuing to inspire and motivate people to lose weight. When he decides to come back, he will come back. He just needed a break.”

You can read Simmons’ full message here: