Viewers who tuned in to "Jimmy Kimmel Live" on Wednesday night are probably still trying to figure out what they just witnessed. Richard Simmons came out for his interview segment, and that was the only remotely normal thing he did. And even that, he did in a dramatic waltz.
Immediately, he sat down on fellow guest Bill Hader and started sucking his thumb. He then laid down on Kimmel's desk and lifted his leg over his head. But this was just the beginning.
Kimmel kept trying to ask him questions, but Simmons was in his own world. He grabbed Kimmel's interview card and licked it. "Are these your words?” he asked. "I’m going to lick them off.” Kimmel told him to just throw them away.
Simmons then turned to Hader and said in a Latin accent, "I want to sing with you.” Now Bill Hader is a seasoned comedy vet and usually quick on his feet, but he was completely flabbergasted by this display. "What’s going on?” he asked. What was going on was that Simmon decided it was time for a lap dance, and he'd decided one Bill Hader would be the -- incredibly reluctant -- recipient.
Finally, Simmons got into his seat, but he didn't stay long. He stood up and started undressing, stripping down to a leotard. He turned around and put on a wig, conducting the rest of his interview as a woman. He started singing again, and even wound up on Kimmel's desk one more time. To say Kimmel had no control of the situation would be a gross understatement. No one had control of this situation, except apparently for Richard Simmons.
Was this a mental break? It would appear not. The New York Times' Brooks Barnes shared a similar experience, writing, “I had only met Richard Simmons once before ... he had inexplicably turned up at our initial interview wearing a bejeweled black leotard, negligee and curly maroon wig, which he twirled while sitting on my lap and demanding to read my aura.”
You never know what to expect on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," weeknights at 11:35 p.m. ET on ABC.
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