• Walton Goggins is playing Rick in The White Lotus
  • Sex Education star Aimee Lou Wood plays his girlfriend Chelsea
  • They have a big age gap in the HBO series
Walton Goggins in The White Lotus
Walton Goggins stars in The White Lotus as Rick Credit: IMAGO

The White Lotus is well into its third season on HBO, and it’s got everyone’s tongue wagging.

Some are obsessed with the toxic friendship dynamics, the inappropriateness of the Ratliff family and just the general excess, but there’s one thing that gets everyone: an age gap relationship.

Walton Goggins has weighed on the season’s biggest conversation starters, namely the dynamic between his character Rick and his much-younger girlfriend Chelsea (Aimee Lou Wood).

The White Lotus
Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood in The White Lotus season 3 Credit: HBO

He told The Telegraph newspaper, “Well, I mean, it’s been going on for so long, hasn’t it… an older man and a younger woman, my God, how trite is that?”

Read more: All the Survivor Easter Eggs in The White Lotus

“It’s a trope at this point, so to really discuss it is just a waste of time. Why would you care if two people find peace and a modicum of joy out of another human being? What does it matter to you?,” Goggins continued to the outlet.

“I don’t care. I like to see people happy together.”

What has Aimee Lou Wood said about their The White Lotus relationship?

Wood recently shared how she and Goggins filmed their sex scene filled with a previously unseen “tenderness” in the second episode with the help of an intimacy coordinator.

Aimee Lou Wood White Lotus season 3
The White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood Credit: IMAGO

Read more: The White Lotus season 3 episode 2 confirms Oscar winner cameo

She told Elle, “We were like, ”This is what we think should happen. This is why we think it’s important.” Because we don’t see a lot of tenderness from Rick to Chelsea the rest of the time.

“So we have to make sure that when they’re physical and intimate in that way, that you see the love.

“We don’t want it to be like a f***** gratuitous [sex scene]. We wanted it to be very tender.

What has the internet said?

Many on social media were in favour of their dynamic. Some even felt the age gap added a layer to his character.

One person posted, “WALTON GOGGINS ENJOYERS HES PLAYING A CHARACTER IN AN AGE GAP RELATIONSHIP, WE ARE SO BACK!!!”

Another added, “thinking of watching the white lotus only for walton goggins age gap relationship.”

Others pointed out that he often plays characters with similar age differences.

“I love the walton goggins age gap relationship cinematic universe,” one person mused.

author avatar
Clara Hill
See Full Bio