Richard Simmons’ sudden death is being investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department.

The fitness expert, whose death reports have been sent for further media examinations, expressed his ‘shy’ personality at length on one of his final interviews.

This comes as Simmons told PEOPLE ahead of his 76th birthday: “I never thought of myself as a celebrity.”

He added: “People don’t know this, I’m really a shy person and a little bit of an introvert. But when that curtain goes up that’s a different story. I’m there to make people happy.”

Simmons continued, “But the accolades I get from emails. I mean, today most probably, we’ll answer over 100 emails. And they’ll say, ‘I’m your No. 1 fan.’ And I just write back, and I say, you know, ‘Don’t say that because I’m a human being just like you. And I know that you do good things, too.’”

Meanwhile, The Medical Examiner’s Office stated that Simmons’ cause of death has since been deferred. The fitness guru was found dead one day after his 76th birthday on July 13.