You can stop worrying: Richard Simmons is fine, says LAPD

You can stop worrying now: The Los Angeles police have checked on elusive workout guru Richard Simmons, and he's fine, thank you very much.

Officer Drake Madison confirmed to USA TODAY Friday that police conducted a wellness check on Simmons and "he was fine."

Who asked them to look in on Simmons? Madison wouldn't say. But it appears the recent online hand-wringing about what has happened to Simmons — unseen in public since 2014 — is all for naught.

Simmons, 68, the curly-haired exercise maven with an effervescent personality, sparkly tank tops and really short shorts, used to be ubiquitous in American pop culture and now ... well, he's just not around much anymore.

But he (or someone) is still posting his cheery tips for healthy living on his Facebook page, as a 2016 post stating that, contrary to rumors, he's not transitioning from male to female.

In February 2014, Simmons stopped showing up for the fitness classes he had been teaching for 40 years. Since then, Simmons' only public appearance has been a trip to the hospital for dehydration in 2016.

For some people, this is suspicious or at least puzzling, especially to podcast host Dan Taberski, whose Missing Richard Simmons podcast is gaining listeners with a weekly examination of where he might be. The theories have included the fears of his former masseuse and friend, Mauro Oliveira, that Simmons is being controlled by his housekeeper.

But it appears he's where his spokesman, Tom Estey, has long said he's always been: at home in Los Angeles. He just doesn't want to come out much anymore because he wants a more private life, says Estey.

"Yes, he's fine, as I have been saying for the last six weeks and the last six months," Estey said in an exasperated email to USA TODAY. "I'm not aware of who asked for the Wellness Check but it wasn't I nor anyone else in Richard's camp, as we all know he is fine."