Richard Simmons
Fitness guru Richard Simmons, pictured June 2, 2013, said his housekeeper, Teresa Reveles, was not keeping him hostage. Getty Images

Forget what you heard: Fitness guru Richard Simmons was not kidnapped by his housemaid, Teresa Reveles, he told Entertainment Tonight Online on Sunday. While Reveles is not holding him hostage, speculation about the mysterious maid has risen. Still, the “Sweating’ to the Oldies” creator urged he is taking a break from the limelight.

"I love all the people who worry about me," Simmons told ET Online on Sunday. "But it was time for me to take some time to be by myself. For the last 40 years I have been traveling, teaching classes, and I had a knee injury, so I had a knee replacement, which was very difficult for me. … 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."

The rumor started Saturday after the New York Daily News published a story claiming that Reveles, Simmons’ live-in housekeeper of nearly three decades, was controlling him. This came from Mauro Oliveira, Simmons’ former assistant, who said Reveles might have put a spell over Simmons. “He was possessed by a bad spirit,” the former assistant said about Simmons. “I think 'tormented' is the best word to describe his mental state. I think it was black magic, witchcraft. That’s not close to your culture, but to my culture in Brazil, and to Mexicans, that is a real thing. They invoke the spirits.”

But Simmons insisted to ET Online that he is simply taking time to recuperate after a knee injury. "This is how I want to live my life right now," he said. "And to all the people that are worried about me, please don't be. If I was in any trouble, if I was hurting in any way, I would reach out. It is time right now for Richard Simmons to take care of Richard Simmons."

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