Warning: future spoilers for the final of season three of “The white lotus. “”
Chelsea and Rick are among the favorite characters of fans of season three of “The White Lotus”, and the creator of the show Mike White said it was by Design.
The couple, played by Aimee Lou Wood, 31 and Walton Goggins, 53, seems to be a bad match when they arrive together at the White Lotus Resort in Thailand because of their big age gap, the naive vision of Chelsea on life and the disdainful attitude of Rick towards her.
In the episode of Sunday of “The White Lotus Official Podcast”, White said that Chelsea and Rick were inspired by the age couples he met in Thailand.
“I went up in an elevator, and there was this older guy, and the girl was very hot, and you know, the breasts all pushed up. She showed her track photos or something, and you could just say that he could not care. She was just living in her reality,” said White. “I said to myself, it would be fun to have this kind of relationship where you have the impression that it is probably inside for sex, but it is almost not worth it.”
Rick and Chelsea come together after Rick’s trip to Bangkok in the final of season three of season three. With the kind permission from HBO
Relations with age have a moment in pop culture with films like “The Idea of You”, “Babygirl” and “Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy” with novels between older women and younger men.
However, in 2022, the Pew Research Center, citing data from the American census office, said that the percentage of opposite sex weddings in which the husband or the woman is three or more more than is decreasing, which could suggest that people are moving away from long -term age space relationships.
The percentage of elderly husbands increased from 43% in 2000 to 40% in 2022, while the percentage of elderly women increased from 11% to 10% in the same period.
Mike White said he wanted viewers to root Chelsea and Rick
White said he wanted to surprise the public by making them fall in love with Chelsea and Rick.
“I was just like, it would be interesting to make a kind of stealth movement where, in the end, you suddenly find yourself rooted for this couple, and you love them and that you make it be this kind of woo-woo and in astrology,” said White.
While Rick opens slowly to Chelsea, fans that are too warm to the couple – which made the final of season three even more tragic.
Honestly, I did not expect Rick and Chelsea to become my favorite part of this season but she is so funny … How she takes care of him and his moods 😭
– 🗡️🗡️ (@Femmevillain) March 3, 2025
Wait, I’m reheating in Rick …
The scene of the boat where he finally opens in Chelsea and then they tightenICL they become one of my favorite couples in the show, I like their dynamics, they give the sun x grumpy
Their hug almost tear me, it looked so comforting pic.twitter.com/jmh4kai3x1
– RJ 𓂆 ‧₊ ⋅ ۫ ꣑ৎ (@kojunresrectd) March 22, 2025
Rick has a secret program to be in Thailand, confronted with his father’s killer. But when he makes the plan in the final, he turns against him and Chelsea is killed. As he tries to win, Rick is also shot, and they both fall into neighboring water and bleed.
The fans were divided during the end, with a certain blame Rick for the death of Chelsea, while others were sad, the couple died after having established a deeper connection.
White said Rick and Chelsea’s death on the podcast: “There is something that looks a little like a clue to a life beyond, this love transcends this life. Even if they have turned off on the plane in their symmetrical coffins, their love transcends it in a gentleman.”
businessinsider