If you look up Thinking Woman’s Bit Of Stuff in the dictionary, there will probably be a picture of Louis Theroux on the page. Mainly because I stuck it there. Clever, funny and really rather hot (OK, maybe an acquired taste, but still hot), his particular brand of observational journalism has been imitated many times, but no one else quite nails his mix of quiet poignancy, pertinent questions and bemused straight man in a sea of lunacy.
I did a quick straw poll in the office to find out what everyone’s favourite Louis stories are, and they varied from Thai Brides and South Africa (from his Weird Weekend series), to the Neo Nazi episode from his BBC2 Specials and When Louis Met… The Hamiltons. Three different franchises, four very different subjects, all with one common theme: Louis was the baffled everyman who inadvertently found himself the star of the show – no matter who he was interviewing. And of course, the programme we all remember the best is his 2007 documentary The Most Hated Family In America – in which he exposed the vehemently anti-gay Westboro Baptist Church and its founder Fred Phelps (who's in the news again this week).
Vital Statistics
Age: 43
From: Born in Singapore, grew up in London, and moved to LA early last year – sorry ladies!
Significant other: Married to his second wife, Nancy Strang and has two children.
Reasons we love him:
– The look on his face part-way through When Louis Meets… Max Clifford, when he realised that the publicist was planting stories about him in the paper, was a joy to behold. Also, anyone who manages to get the better of Max Clifford is alright in our books.
– His cousin is Justin Theroux – no word yet on whether he’ll be getting an invite to the Theroux-Aniston nuptials.
– He retains his fanciability, even when he's hammered and being seduced by Christine Hamilton:
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.