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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Matthew Cooper

Louis Theroux admits he 'liked Jimmy Savile' and still struggles with his feeling about him ahead of his return to BBC tonight

Ahead of his return to the BBC tonight for a special titled 'Mothers on the Edge', Louis Theroux appeared on Radio 4's much-loved 'Desert Island Discs' programme.

Presented by Lauren Laverne, the two discussed the music which shaped Theroux's life and his remarkable career to date.

The pair also spoke about Jimmy Savile and Theroux explained how he's still trying to understand why he "sort of quite liked" the disgraced TV personality when he made a documentary about him in 2000.

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“So while I’m quite proud of the first programme, I’m still a bit confused about how was I able to experience him as a somewhat likeable person in the year or two after making it. That’s something I think upon," Theroux told Laverne, The Guardian reports.

Savile died back in 2011 amidst the news that he was a serial child abuser for much of his long career and Theroux revisited the topic, making a documentary with survivors of the sexual abuse. “I wanted to figure out how it was that I had missed what I had missed,” he told Laverne.

“There’s a slightly naive view, common to some men, that if abuse happens you recognise it as abuse straight away. And of course that isn’t how it works in a real world setting. So, it was something that I maybe had to learn, and I’d like to think that I bring that understanding now to my work and also just as a human being.”

'Louis Theroux: Mothers on the Edge' explores the trauma of childbirth and the mental wellbeing on new mums and airs at 9pm on BBC Two.

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