Top 10 Times Louis Theroux Humiliated People
#10: Harrison Sullivan
“Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere” (2026)
Better known by his screen name “HSTikkyTokky”, Sullivan was the first subject Louis talked to on camera for his documentary about the manosphere. Outrageously popular with teenage boys, HS touts himself as a businessman who’ll just as soon promote a fitness regime as he’ll promote the OnlyFans models whose pages he runs. Louis asks him about this, and HS’s response is that OnlyFans is “disgusting” and he thinks less of the models and performers who do it. If Louis pointing out his hypocrisy wasn’t embarrassing enough, though, the documentary ends with a clip of HS on a livestream being ordered to clean the floor by his disappointed mother.
#9: Dennis Lowry
“Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends” (1998-2000)
Louis heads to Las Vegas to learn about the growing industry of hypnosis – as both therapy and entertainment. He speaks to master hypnotist Dennis Lowry, who, like many of Louis’s subjects, is lacking a lot of self-awareness; ironic, considering he claims to be able to hypnotise himself. He even lets Louis hypnotise him, with hardly any training, which makes you wonder what the difference is between a “master hypnotist” and a random person off the street. It may seem harmless enough to make your career giving people affirmations, but how much does he charge for this privilege? And it’s not a ringing endorsement when he could just be acting for the cameras.
#8: Max Clifford
“When Louis Met…” (2000-02)
Deceased publicist and Operation Yewtree alum Max Clifford was the subject of this episode, with Louis digging into his decades-long career selling salacious stories to the tabloids. But unfortunately for Clifford, Louis got a first-hand look at one of his dodgy deals, after Clifford got caught in a hot mic incident; a rookie mistake for someone with so much media experience! Louis and Max go to Sainsbury’s together, only to encounter a flock of journalists at the entrance. Max insists that Sainsbury’s itself got them down, while they say that Max tipped them off. Getting all this on Clifford’s microphone, Louis then confronts him, and Clifford keeps lying, making a fool of himself.
#7: Dr Win Paris
“Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends” (1998-2000)
While exploring the surreal world of infomercials, Louis comes across a man named Dr Win Paris, who designs many of the bizarre pieces of exercise equipment that frequently pop up on those shopping channels. Suffice it to say, Win Paris is quite the character, showing off his latest gizmos and gadgets for Louis’s benefit. One contraption, though, Paris openly says he’s not going to sell in the US because it might be dangerous: he’s going to sell it in a market with less regulation, like Asia. There’s something deeply sinister about this. Paris is against selling something dangerous in his home country, but will happily inflict his unproven devices on others.
#6: The Hamiltons
“When Louis Met…” (2000-02)
It was remarkable that Louis was filming a documentary when Tory MP Neil Hamilton and his wife Christine were arrested for a sex scandal, but he was! At the time, the Hamiltons were attempting to rebrand themselves after business magnate Mohamed Al-Fayed accused Neil of demanding cash in exchange for asking questions in parliament. Mid-filming, though, and the Hamiltons were arrested on allegations of serious sex offences. The woman who made the allegations was later proven to have completely made them up, but who was the orchestrator of the false allegation? Fascinatingly, it was Max Clifford. But with their lewd behaviour, the Hamiltons’ rebranding effort was ultimately a failure.
#5: Thor Templar
“Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends” (1998-2000)
Louis is back in the southwestern US, but this time he’s looking for aliens rather than hypnotists. The first one he meets, Thor Templar, is possibly one of the most outlandish people on Earth, calling himself the “Lord Commander of the Earth Protectorate”. He tells Louis that aliens don’t use any technology we understand; instead, their ships and weapons are powered by “mental energy”. He’s even got a costly UFO detector and a magical gun that can harness that mental energy and turn it back on our would-be abductors. And just how much protecting of Earth has he done? Well, he says he’s killed no fewer than twenty extra-terrestrials.
#4: Settler Violence
“Louis Theroux: The Settlers” (2025)
In this chilling film, Louis revisited the West Bank, years after filming another documentary there, to talk to Israeli settlers making no secret of their ambitions to steal land from Palestinians directly. This settler, Daniella, talks to Louis as they overlook a Palestinian town that she wants for herself. He quizzes her on why she isn’t happy with a two-state solution that would bring peace to the region, and she insists that there must be an entirely Jewish state. Louis tries his best to eke some empathy out of her, but he can’t do it. She bizarrely tries to prove that settlers aren’t violent by pushing him. Then, at the end, she says she wanted him to retaliate.
#3: Thai Bride
“Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends” (1998-2000)
Before internet dating took off with endless apps and swipes and algorithms, there were companies like this, setting up arranged marriages with western men willing to pay a high price for a foreign bride. More often than not, those brides are from Thailand, and Louis goes to meet some newlyweds who’ve benefited from one such matchmaking service. The groom, Lake Palmer, has come all the way to Bangkok from Great Yarmouth to find a wife, which he succeeds at by the end of the episode. Palmer more makes a fool of himself, though, by boasting about how they’ve been “active” with each other. It’s all deeply awkward.
#2: The Ten Commandments
“The Most Hated Family in America” (2007)
Louis made three documentaries where he visited the Westboro Baptist Church in America, an ultra-extreme group of evangelical Christians who have made it their mission to spread their “message of hate” around the world. He talks to the matriarch of the church’s most prominent family, Shirley Phelps, about her beliefs. Predictably, she insists that any nation that has liberal laws on gay rights is doomed, saying that Louis, too, is condemned to burn in hell. Phelps insists that gay rights are destroying the world, and Louis catches her out by saying that if God and Jesus care so much, why didn’t they put it in the Ten Commandments?
#1: Myron & Angie
“Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere” (2026)
Arguably the biggest influencer Louis got to talk to for his Manosphere documentary was Myron Gains from the Fit & Fresh podcast. After tense negotiations, Louis is allowed to talk to him, but Myron is hesitant to let Louis talk to his girlfriend, Angie. Eventually, we see why. Louis asks him about his philosophy of one-way monogamy, which means Myron can sleep around if he likes, but Angie will remain faithful. But while chatting, Angie makes it clear that Myron DOESN’T have any girlfriends on the side like he claims, and is a different person when he’s off-camera. Later, he refuses to let Louis talk to Angie again, and at the end, the documentary reveals that she’s dumped him.
Let us know in the comments what you want to see Louis do a documentary on next.
