Louis Theroux has 'wrestled' with giving a voice to extreme views on his shows

Louis Theroux has admitted he has “wrestled” with giving people with controversial views a voice on his documentaries.

The star has made his name with his explorations of groups with extreme views, such as white supremacists and members of a US church that protests against homosexuality.

According to the BBC, Theroux said he had questioned whether it was the right thing to do.

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But he said not reporting on such things didn’t mean they would disappear.

The star was asked about it during a Q&A ahead of his new series Forbidden America, and replied: “That's a great question and it's something we've wrestled with a lot.”

Theroux said those voices are already amplified due to the internet.

"So this phenomenon exists in the world, and by not reporting on it, it's not going to go away,” he said.

The 51-year-old said he also believes that he can bring a “critical, forensic, journalistic set of skills” to such stories.

"I can interview and put a programme together in such a way that people will be given a sufficient interrogation to mean that most reasonable people will see it and will realise what it already means [and] the way it represents ways of thinking which are dangerous or poisonous or harmful," he said.

"It's not like, oh, I'm just going to put them on a platform and give them an unexamined chance to reach lots of people."

Forbidden America will see Theroux explore rap, the far right and the world of porn, something he has delved into before in his Weird Weekends series.

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Theroux started Weird Weekends in the late 90s and went on to film the When Louis Met… series, which saw him interviewing the likes of Jimmy Savile and Ann Widdecombe.

In 2003 he started making BBC specials, exploring topics like crime, paedophilia and Neo-Nazism.

Forbidden America starts on BBC Two on February 13.

Watch: Louis Theroux's Forbidden America starts on BBC Two