Louis Theroux questioned polyamory and ‘getting to try everything on the buffet’ in a candid new interview about love, relationships and his broadcasting career.
Speaking with Rylan on the finale of BBC Sounds How to Be in Love on Wednesday, the documentary maker, 55, gave a rare insight into his relationship.
Louis, who has been married to his wife Nancy Strang since 2012, quipped that while he has ‘no plans’ to be polyamorous, getting to the ‘end of your life’ without having fully explored everything could leave people with regrets.
After meeting throuples and visiting marriage agencies in Thailand thanks to his documentaries, he shared how his career has challenged his thoughts on love.
Louis told Rylan: ‘I’ve never been [polyamorous], and I’ve no plans to. What I would also say is that what about being monogamous?
‘Like, if you marry, marriage has been around for thousands of years, probably 2,000 / 3,000 years ago, people lived to be about 45, 50 if they were lucky.’
Louis Theroux questioned polyamory and ‘getting to try everything on the buffet’ as he admitted marriage can be ‘imprisoning’
The presenter, who is married to wife Nancy, said while he has ‘no plans’ to be polyamorous getting to the ‘end of your life’ without having explored could leave people with regrets
He continued: ‘You would be married for maybe 20 or 30 years. Now we live to be 90, 100, 110. You could be married for 90 years.
‘Can you imagine being with one partner for 90 years? Would that be a life well lived?
‘I mean, it’s a bit almost crass to define things in those terms but it does feel imprisoning in an odd way, and don’t you want to get to the end of your life and feel that you absolutely tried everything on the buffet?’
Louis recalled the moment he fell in love with his wife Nancy and also candidly admitted that their relationship ‘wasn’t always easy.’
He added: ‘As someone who’s been with my wife Nancy for more than 20 years, you’ve got to survive when the ecstasy isn’t present in every moment.
‘So love is also a practice, it’s a discipline. You should think of it as the daily commitment you make to someone that you care about.
‘The moment I fell in love with my wife was when I saw her dancing for the first time. It was like a second or third date, might have been fourth, and I realised that she had these moves.
‘She’s a dancer like not by training but just by natural she has a natural talent anyone who’s seen her dance would tell you that.’
Speaking in a candid chat with Rylan on the finale of BBC Sounds How to Be in Love, he documentary maker, 55, gave a rare insight into his relationship
Louis said: ‘Can you imagine being with one partner for 90 years? Would that be a life well lived? ‘It’s a bit almost crass to define things in those terms but it does feel imprisoning’
Louis revealed that at times in their relationship he ‘wasn’t always the man he needed to be’ which caused problems.
He explained: ‘It took that kind of crisis of uncertainty to bring it to focus which led to us getting married.
‘There was a time in our relationship when I thought I was in danger of losing her. And sometimes it’s a terrible cliche, but the feeling of not knowing what you’ve got till it’s gone.
‘And that feeling of, it kind of brought everything into focus for me, but that moment, so the answer to the question is the moment of being in danger of losing Nancy was when I most keenly felt how committed I was to her.’
The documentarian tied the knot with Nancy back in 2012, and they share three sons Albert, Frederick, and Walter.
Listen to the full interview on BBC Sounds.
