He is famed for his unᴀssuming BBC interviews with a host of celebrities. 

And Louis Theroux has shared the little known consequence of his controversial interview with Jimmy Savile back in 2000 for his show When Louis Met… Jimmy!

The acclaimed journalist and broadcaster, 54, has told how celebrities felt ‘insulted’ when they were invited onto his show following his interview with Savile.

After Savile’s death in 2011, aged 84, it emerged that the broadcaster and long-time charity campaigner had Sєxually abused hundreds of women and children.

Louis recalled moments where celebrity agents would refuse the invite because ‘it wasn’t a nice thing to be asked’ so soon after interviewing a paedophile.

For a while, Louis – who often interviewed those who were on ‘the downside of their careers’ – recalled having to prove his interviews ‘wasn’t just out to get them’.

Louis Theroux, 54, has shared the little known consequence of his controversial interview with Jimmy Savile

The acclaimed journalist and broadcaster has told how celebrities felt ‘insulted’ when they were invited onto his show following his interview with Savile (pictured in 2000)

Louis appeared on the Tables Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware

Appearing on Tables Manners podcast with Jessie and Lennie Ware, Louis said: ‘Back in the day, just to roll back, the first things I did involving celebrities, we would say, we want 10 days. This was the aforementioned Jimmy Savile. Paul Daniels was one, the magician and his wife, Debbie McGee. Neil and Christine Hamilton.

‘It was very, very hard, and quite quickly we ran out of road. And actually, it was never kind of made explicit, but we were largely dealing with people who are on the downside of their careers.’

He added: ‘It [his show] was before Strictly, I’m a Celebrity, Big Brother. When reality TV came along and celebrities realised they could appear on things and they didn’t have to tolerate a BBC Inquisitor being impertinent then quite clearly, they would choose to do that. 

‘Plus, as the show went on, who wants to be like, “well we’ve done Jimmy Savile and we’ve done Paul Daniels, so we’d love to do you”. And I remember one or two of the celebrity’s agents were like, “that’s not a very nice thing to be asked”. 

‘It became almost like a brand of being washed up [and I] feel like it was a long road of trying to show people that I wasn’t just out to get them, that I was up for having conversations that felt fair and humane. 

‘Or at least that’s what we were aiming for, was not to show people up, but to absolutely just tell the truth in a way that might not be necessarily prohibitive.’

Savile molested victims as young as five at NHS hospitals during decades of unrestricted access and as many as 72 victims while working at the BBC.

His earliest victim at the BBC was ᴀssaulted in 1959 and his latest in 2006, while working on Top of the Pops. 

For a while, Louis – who often interviewed those who were on ‘the downside of their careers’ – recalled having to prove his interviews ‘wasn’t just out to get them’

In his 2000 documentary, Louis questioned Savile over rumours that he was Sєxually interested in children 

In 2016, Louis made another documentary in which he met Savile’s victims and took himself to task for having been ‘silly and gullible’ 

Read More Inside Louis Theroux’s bizarre ‘friendly’ relationship with Jimmy Savile

In his 2000 documentary, Louis questioned Savile over rumours that he was Sєxually interested in children.

During a chilling exchange, Savile said: ‘We live in a very funny world. And 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.

Louis asked: ‘Is that basically so the tabloids don’t pursue this whole is he or isn’t he a paedophile line?’

Savile replied: ‘Oh, aye. How do they know whether I am not? How does anybody know whether I am? Nobody knows whether I am or not. I know I’m not… That’s my policy and it’s worked a dream.’

It has since been revealed that Louis tried to report Sєxual abuse carried out by Savile after making the film, but it was not followed up.

The filmmaker claims he reported the presenter in 2001, after a woman came forward and told him she’d been one of his girlfriends, along with others, when she was 15, but a BBC producer did not talk to police.

In 2016, Louis made another documentary in which he met Savile’s victims and took himself to task for having been ‘silly and gullible’.

Elsewhere on the podcast, Louis also touched on his filming regrets admitting: ‘There’s so much that I regret.’

Elsewhere on the podcast, Louis also touched on his filming regrets admitting: ‘There’s so much that I regret’ (pictured in 2019)

He added: ‘There’s a whole scene I wish we’d sH๏τ with the Joe Exotic film, where they were going to campaign for his release, and they were going to go to Washington and we were offered a flight on his lawyer’s plane, and then we just let it slide. I think I could have been slightly better.

‘Woody Allen said they asked him something about when’s your happiest moment in creating a film? He said “Well, at the moment I get the idea, and then everything after that is a compromise”.

‘I don’t absolutely line up with that, but there is a sense in which there are small failings and little bits that you wish you could do differently or do over, and as it goes on, you’re pleased with how it turns out, but more often than not, there are little things that you feel actually you could slightly better, especially with the with the hindsight and the pᴀssage of time.’

Louis also spoke about how his parents Anne and Paul’s divorce impacted him heavily in his older life.

The broadcaster said he felt he wasn’t allowed to be emotional because he was a ‘grown man’, but insisted it was ‘incredibly upsetting’ for him. 

He said: ‘It was a weird time emotionally for me. It’s like, “oh, well, you are a grown man, your parents are getting divorced. Deal with it. Man up. Stop being a snowflake, for f**** sake”. 

‘No, actually, it’s quite upsetting when your parents divorce. Even if you are a grown man. It’s odd because I could see how upset my mum was.’