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(NewsNation) — While the world mourned the passing of fitness guru and wellness advocate Richard Simmons, the bigger tragedy may be that, after stepping back from the limelight for over a decade, Simmons was about to make a triple-threat comeback.

“Richard was doing three major projects when he died,” a friend of the fitness guru told me. 

According to insiders Simmons was not only doing a documentary with ABC and preparing for a major tell-all interview with Diane Sawyer, but also creating a Broadway show about his life. “It was like what Tina Turner and Cher did,” the friend said.

“He was so annoyed at how everyone else was trying to tell his story that he decided to do it himself.”

Simmons, who had been a recluse for over ten years when he bowed out of the public eye, had to endure the podcast “Missing Richard Simmons” by journalist Dan Taberski, It debuted in 2014 and not only documented Simmons’ “disappearance” but cast aspersion on his longtime friend and housekeeper, Teresa Reveles.

The podcast led to allegations that Simmons was being “held hostage” and “controlled” by Reveles — allegations that were simply untrue, but led to years of public speculation and embarrassment.

Simmons was particularly outraged when it was announced Pauly Shore was doing a movie about his life, “The Court Jester” and posted a statement to Facebook that read, “You may have heard they may be doing a movie about me with Pauly Shore. I have never given my permission for this movie. So don’t believe everything you read.”

In April, Simmons posted on X: “I just read that a man that I don’t know is writing my biopic starring Pauly Shore. I do not approve of this movie. I am in talks with major studios to create my own bio pic with some help. Wait for this movie.”

In fact, the movie was the ABC documentary, which my sources say he had already started working on.

Simmons died last week after reportedly “falling down the stairs” — an allegation my sources say is not true. 

“He had a heart attack,” the friend said. “He wasn’t feeling well the night before and went to bed early. (Reveles) found him the next day.” 

(The official cause of death has not been announced yet but according to Los Angeles police, there “is no foul play.”)

Meanwhile, while Simmons hadn’t sat for his official interview with Sawyer yet, the two had become friends, and, as Sawyer told People magazine, they had “wonderful conversations.”

“I was truly moved by Richard’s complex insight into life and people, including himself — how we rise and how we fall,” Sawyer said. “I will always think of the room full of flowers he sent me and how each bouquet having the same note: I trust you… Richard’s last text to me was straight from the (Carole King) song ‘You’ve Got a Friend.’ ‘Whenever you want to talk, just call out my name, and I’ll be there’.”

I hear the documentary and musical will still go ahead — using home videos of Simmons as well as his own words from journals and other sources.