Featured Image Credit: BBC
Topics: Louis Theroux, Jimmy Savile, Documentaries
Brenna Cooper
Louis Theroux has revealed the one regret he has when looking back on his infamous documentary about Louis Saville.
Back in 2000, Theroux profiled Jimmy Savile - then a beloved British media personality - for his series When Louis Met…completely unaware that Savile would later be exposed as one of the nation's most prolific child sex abusers.
Savile's horrifying crimes remained unknown to the public until a year after his death, meaning the 84-year-old had been able to get away with sexually abusing hundreds of people across five decades.
In the years since Savile's crimes became public knowledge, people have begun to look upon his media appearances in a different light, with his behaviour now appearing a lot more sinister than it did at the time.
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This includes Theroux's documentary, which showcases a moment where the 55-year-old even questioned Savile directly about paedophilia rumours.
Theroux would later revisit his time with Savile in 2016's TV film Louis Theroux: Savile, which attempted to investigate how he was able to get away with his crimes for so long.
The journalist and presenter even at times questioned his own inability to uncover the truth, revealing his one regret regarding Savile in a 2016 interview with The Grierson Trust.
"In a small way, I felt that I had an account of myself and how it was that I had not managed to show more of him," Theroux said while reflecting on how public perception of the original documentary has changed.
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"I'm very torn on this," he continued. "Because on one level, I'm really proud of the original show and I feel it showed more than anyone else had while he was alive.
"On another level, I'm aware that we missed this vast secret that he had, and a little part of me feels disappointed with myself."
Theroux went on to speculate whether or not Savile had decided he'd be able to do the documentary without being caught out, adding: "He agreed to do this.
"He saw me, seized me up and thought, 'you know what, I can give this guy two weeks of access and I'm not too worried that he's going to uncover the fact I'm a sexual predator'.
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"In that calculation, he was correct," Theroux added. "Which is rather galling."
This isn't the first time Theroux has reflected critically on his time with Savile, with the podcaster describing himself as 'gullible' while meeting several of the media personality's victims.