A debate over Richard Simmons’ headband is circulating on Twitter and Reddit after fans are convinced he wore the accessory, despite images proving otherwise.
Fitness personality Richard Simmons was known for his energetic aerobics videos in the 1980s, but the 75-year-old hasn’t been seen in public since 2014. With the power of social media, however, Simmons is making waves once again but not because of a new gym routine.
The signature 80’s fitness style consisted of leotards and headbands but recent image searches of Simmons show the star without a headband, prompting massive confusion among fans who allegedly remember the celeb sporting one.
On top of that, Richard Simmons Halloween costumes also include a headband despite no online photographic evidence that it was the guru’s trademark look – so has the web completely wiped the real images?
Richard Simmons headband debate takes over Twitter and Reddit
The mystery is recirculating the internet after TikToker Kelly Manno posted a video of herself responding to a fan comment that Simmons never wore a headband.
Manno is clearly team headband: “What do they think they did? Went through the whole internet and scrubbed every photo of Richard Simmons ever wearing a headband?” she said. “That’s crazy.”
Believe it or not, there isn’t a single photo of the real Simmons with a headband on Google Images – only costumes and impersonators.
Users in the comments section weighed in claiming that as an owner of Simmons’ VHS tape, Sweatin’ With The Oldies, he definitely sported a headband and wristbands too. That being said, others allegedly with a tape also state that there was never a headband.
Simmons released five Sweatin’ To The Oldies DVDs and four Sweatin’ To The Oldies video cassettes so it’s possible that different versions give contrasting answers.
The internet mystery dates back to at least 2019 when one Redditor called the situation “one of the most powerful Mandela effects I’ve ever experienced”. The Mandela effect refers to a situation in which a large mass of people believes that an event occurred when it did not.
It resurfaced in 2021 again, though one user suggested that Simmons may have been confused with tennis player John McEnroe, who wore a red headband during the peak of his career in the mid-1980s.
A second person on Reddit also pointed out that it may be easy to picture Simmons with a headband given the popularity of the 80s aerobics accessory.
Take a look at a Sweatin’ To The Oldies workout video; not a headband in sight:
Photos of Simmons in the 1970s to the 1990s
1979:
1980:
1980:
1983:
1993:
