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Louis Theroux leaves BBC to start own production company

Documentary film maker Louis Theroux poses for photographers on arrival at the TV Choice Awards in central London on Monday, Sept. 9, 2019. (Photo by Grant Pollard/Invision/AP)
Louis Theroux is starting his own production company (Credit: AP)

Louis Theroux has parted way with the BBC to start his own production company.

The documentary maker behin My Scientology Movie, Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends and When Louis Met... has set up Mindhouse Productions, ending his contractual relationship with BBC Studios after more than 20 years.

Theroux will own 40 per cent of the company, in an equal split with his former BBC Studios executive producer Arron Fellows, while his TV director Nancy Strang will take a 20 per cent stake, according to Deadline.

Read more: 9 most insane moments from Louis Theroux's documentaries

A BBC spokeswoman said: “Louis and the BBC have a strong and long-standing relationship. We look forward to continuing to work together and already have exciting projects in development for next year.”

A spokeswoman for BBC Studios added: “We love working with him and hope to again in the near future.”

The move comes after speculation that Theroux was being courted by both Amazon and Netflix.

Theroux, 49, revealed at the Edinburgh International Television Festival in August he was planning to set up an independent production company, joking that it might be called Theroux the Looking Glass.

Louis Theroux has set up the indie production company with his director wife Nancy Strang (Credit: PA)
Louis Theroux has set up the indie production company with his director wife Nancy Strang (Credit: PA)

Read more: Louis Theroux revisits America’s ‘most hated family’ for new documentary

The presenter and interviewer said: “We will make shows that are similar to the sorts of things I’ve done in the past but not necessarily with me in it - first-person docs that go to extremes and also stories without me that cover similar terrain.”

Theroux - who has become synonymous with his distinct style of presenting - famously interviewed Jimmy Savile as part of his When Louis Met... series in 2000.

He recently referred to the experience as “the strangest and most upsetting event” of his career, admitting that he had “friendly feelings” towards Savile, who it has now been revealed sexually abused at least 72 children and women at the height of his fame.