Louis Theroux hunts for his nude Polaroid in Life On The Edge

Louis Theroux took another trip down memory lane in tonight’s Life On The Edge, which saw him try to hunt down his nude Polaroid photo before reuniting with a former porn star. 

The filmmaker revisited his 2012 documentary Twilight of the Porn Stars in which he explored the amateur adult film industry in California. 

Life On The Edge saw Louis first attempt to find his old research archive for the documentary or, as he casually put it, ‘the porn folder’. 

He came across a newspaper article about male performers who struggle to get an erection for scenes and the toll it takes on performers, which is what spurred him on to create the original film. 

Louis recalled how far he was willing to go for his art and shared: ‘In the world of porn, clearly there’s a lot of opportunities for colourful participation. 

‘I think we even had a chat about would I actually be able to perform and have sex on camera and, quite evidently, that’s really uncomfortable and weird. So then the next step down was that I could get naked.’ 

In present day, Louis’ then seen entering a room and asking his wife Nancy off-camera: ‘You know that polaroid of me naked from the porn episode, do you know where it is?’ 

Nancy laughs and responds deadpan: ‘I don’t keep it under my pillow.’ 

Guess it might be lost forever… or locked up in Louis’ safe. 

Almost 10 years after the documentary, Louis came to the realisation of the porn industry: ‘It’s not sexy at all, it’s kind of mechanical. Sort of like watching someone on an exercise bike. 

‘As fun as you think it could be, that’s the con.’ 

Later, Louis reunited with former porn star JJ from the documentary who he’s become friends with over the years.

Chatting via Zoom, JJ explained what made him get into the adult film industry, and said: ‘Part of it was 25 years ago on Monday was when my son died, after that I pretty much spiralled downward… I was truly broken and that makes you do strange things. 

‘I appreciate the documentary as it was a good snapshot of where I was mentally at the time.’ 

He added: ‘Working in the adult industry is like a drug, so I think it naturally attracts people with crazy in them.’ 

Reacting to Louis’ trip down memory lane, one viewer joked: ‘I love @louistheroux ‘s wife answer to him looking for a naked picture of himself “well I don’t keep it under my pillow”.’

‘The porn folder is always under mattress,’ another chimed in, while one tweeted in similar humour: ‘He needs a better filing system.’

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