TV fitness icon Richard Simmons responded to rumors that the reason he hasn’t been seen in public in more than two years is because he was kidnapped and is being held hostage.

ET reports that Simmons, 67, said: “I am not kidnapped. I am just in my house right now.” He added: “No one should be worried about me. The people that surround me are wonderful people who take great care of me.”

Simmons responded to a report published Saturday by the New York Daily News in which friends of Simmons expressed concern that he is being held against his volition.

Simmons called the report “very hurtful” and told ET that he needed some time off after a knee replacement. “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,” he said, adding: “I still weigh 150. I work out every day. I have a gym at the house, and I am very healthy.”