Louis Theroux is still troubled by the "friendly" relationship he shared with now disgraced late TV presenter Jimmy Savile.
The 49-year-old filmmaker developed a friendship with the ‘Top of the Pops’ host following the making of his 2000 documentary ‘When Louis Met… Jimmy’ for which he spent a significant amount of time Savile and was given unprecedented access to his home life.
Following Savile’s passing at the age of 84 in 2011 hundreds of women came forward to claim he sexually abused them when they were children, while other victims claim they were subjected to assaults as adults.
Louis admits the fact he "quite liked" the ‘Jim’ll Fix It’ star and wasn’t convinced he was hiding any dark secrets still haunts him to this day and he has devoted seven chapters of his upcoming book to Savile.
Speaking at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Louis said: "I think about it a lot. I have got a book coming out later this year and about seven chapters are about Jimmy Savile so it would be a bit weird not to talk about it. In terms of my professional career I would say it is the strangest and most upsetting event to have been in any way involved in. I quite liked him. I have to pick my words carefully, people say ‘you were his friend’. And I would never call myself his friend in a straight forward way. We were friendly, I had friendly feelings towards him.
"The programme is a strong programme but doesn’t get repeated for obvious reasons. It is a hard headed programme. My producer wanted to do a proper bit of journalism."
In the documentary, Louis openly asked Savile about the rumours surrounding his personal life and enquired if it was the reason the showbiz personality had stated he hated children.
Savile replied: "It’s easier for me, as a single man, to say ‘I don’t like children,’ because that puts a lot of salacious tabloid people off the hunt."
Theroux then enquired if he said it to stop people pursuing the notion he could be a paedophile, Savile said: "How do they know whether I am or not?"
Louis admits it was Savile’s ability to brazenly brush off those allegations, even though they were true, which made him a difficult person to read.
He explained: "The hallmark of his offending was he was weirdly brazen in his ability to address it and take the position that is completely bizarre.
"He had an ability not to be nobbled by it. When he was confronted about his offending, people did come to confront him and he had the ability to brazen it out."
Following the Savile scandal – which was sparked by 2012 ITV expose ‘Exposure: The Other Side of Jimmy Savile – Louis made a follow-up documentary, entitled ‘Louis Theroux: Savile’, in which he revisited his relationship with Savile and investigate how he was able to get away with his sordid sex crimes for decades.
Another memorable moment in ‘When Louis Met… Jimmy’ was when Savile showed Theroux the "shrine" he had in his home to his late mother, whom he referred to as "The Duchess", having kept her bedroom exactly as it was after she died, even continuing to clean her clothes.
After spending three months filming with Savile in 1999 and 2000, Louis and the DJ remained in touch for a number of years and the investigative journalist would even occasionally stay at his home.
Louis Theroux still troubled by friendship with Jimmy Savile
