Richard Simmons, American fitness guru, dies aged 76

Fitness guru Richard Simmons has died at age 76, according to multiple media outlets.

Reports in US ABC News said his housekeeper found him unresponsive on Saturday morning local time and Los Angeles police were called. 

TMZ reported that police were treating it as a natural death. 

He had celebrated his 76th birthday on Friday. 

Los Angeles police said it could not confirm Simmons’ death.

Born Milton Teagle “Richard” Simmons, the flamboyant fitness instructor became a household name and pioneered gyms as safe places for people who weren’t already in perfect shape. 

He revealed in a series of social media posts this year that he had been diagnosed with skin cancer.

Simmons, who grew up in the French quarter of New Orleans before settling in California, weighed 120 kilograms when he graduated from high school, his website said.

His own story of struggling with weight loss, where he tried everything from fad diets to laxatives before settling on exercise and better lifestyle choices, inspired millions to do the same.

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