Richard Simmons Posts Audio Message, First Time We've Heard Voice in Years

Richard Simmons seems to be poking his head out from where he's been hiding for about a decade now -- 'cause he just let the world hear his voice anew ... and he hasn't changed.

The legendary fitness instructor threw up an audio clip Monday to his personal YouTube page -- and while he normally posts dance remixes and other throwback clips of himself ... on this particular occasion, he decided he wanted the world to hear from him directly.

Check it out ... the snippet is fairly brief, with RS noting the date (5/6/2024) and then offering up a thank-you to his fans who read his inspirational notes/messages on Facebook

Richard then dives into a little roses-are-red poem where he declares his love for his base ... and caps it off with a sweet farewell, almost seemingly teasing the notion he'll be back. That certainly jibes with him chirping up these days ... more than he's done in a very long time.

You'll recall ... TMZ did a documentary that examined where Richard Simmons was today, and why he vanished from the public eye -- as it turns out, he never really liked fame.

He did address the public when we dropped our doc -- and even outside of that, he's repeatedly made clear over the years he wasn't being held against his will, and that there weren't any bad actors in his orbit ... despite rampant speculation to the contrary.

As everyone knows ... Richard disappeared in 2014 when he didn't show up to one of his fitness classes, without any explanation. Since then, he's lived a very reclusive life.

The latest with him actually pertains to Pauly Shore, who's making a biopic about the guy.

Of course, Pauly is forging ahead with the movie without Richard's blessing -- and despite his repeated attempts to get him onboard and to help ... RS has rebuffed him time and again.