Louis Theroux says Jimmy Savile didn't seem 'malevolent' at the time

'I had a friendly relationship with him, I did like him a little bit,' says the filmmaker

Louis Theroux has said that Jimmy Savile did not appear “malevolent” at the time and if he had appeared malicious he would have been caught far more quickly.

Appearing on Peston on Sunday on ITV, he said that he had a friendly relationship with the disgraced former DJ.

“In hindsight it’s hard not to see him as a malevolent figure now,” said Theroux.

“Which he was, but at the time he didn’t feel that way and if he had done, I think he would’ve been caught a lot sooner".

When asked whether he liked Savile, the 45-year-old filmmaker explained that it was difficult to cast his mind back to the period before the allegations of sexual abuse emerged.

“It’s hard to say, here and now knowing what we know about him, its very hard to acknowledge, even putting yourself back in that place in time is difficult,” Theroux said.

“I had a friendly relationship with him, I did like him a little bit”.

Theroux is currently making a second BBC documentary on Savile in the attempt to find out how he managed to conceal his crimes. Theroux previously focused on Savile in When Louis Met Jimmy and spent three months with the radio personality during its production. In the past, Theroux had said he felt a burden of responsibility for failing to expose Savile as a child abuser.