White Lotus fans climbed over rocks with bleeding feet to break onto set, says hotel manager
It’s a story as wild as a plot from the show: during the filming of The White Lotus season 3 in Thailand, two female fans walked across jagged rocks with bleeding feet to break onto the beach of the hotel where the filming was taking place.
The filming for The White Lotus season 3 took place at a secluded hotel on the Thai island of Koh Samui. The property was closed to the public for a month for the duration of the shoot. The hotel, the Four Seasons Koh Samui, is situated on a private cove.
The only way for non-cast and crew members to get access during the period would have been to clamber for hundreds of metres across jagged rocky wasteland to reach the private beach.
Fans break onto the White Lotus season 3 film set at the Four Seasons Koh Samui
Speaking to City AM, the Four Seasons Koh Samui hotel manager Jasjit ‘JJ’ Assi revealed that two female intruders had attempted to break onto the property to get closer to the cast during one day of filming on the private beach. “I saw them coming by chance, I saw bleeding toes,” remembers JJ. “I called security and said ‘who are you?’ They said they’d do anything to be part of the show.”
JJ thought “is this an extra or guest?,” then sat them down and called security. “I said, ‘are you part of the cast?’ She said ‘no’. So I said ‘who are you?’ She said they’d do anything to be part of the show. I said ‘it’s not right, there is a forum online, you go and put your photographs, there is a way you can get into it,’ then I had to escort her out politely.”
The hotel then employed extra security around the beach, and had to send out boats to bring down drones trying to film the shoot. The two female intruders had tried three times to enter the set before they were caught. “They walked through the jungle from the other side to come across the rocks and mountain three times. First they came at the top, they tried to enter from the employee entrance, the third time these two people walked from the cliff with bleeding toes.”
Read more: I stayed at the real White Lotus hotel in Thailand – here’s what it’s like
The Four Seasons Koh Samui operated as it ordinarily would during filming, with the same quality of food and service offered to cast and crew. Restaurants opened at unusual hours to accommodate for filming, and hotel staff enjoyed close interactions with the cast, though another staff member said he’d “be reluctant to share” details about any personal interactions.
Villas at the Four Seasons Koh Samui start from over £1,000 per night and each have outdoor pools
Ever since the fourth season of The White Lotus aired, rumours have intensified about on-set feuds between cast members, who spent over a month holed up together at the Four Seasons Koh Samui resort in Thailand for filming.
Jason Isaacs has spoken so many times about cast tensions, there are now listicles rounding up all of his revelations, and the main rumour centres around Aimee Lou Wood and Walter Goggins, who shared an on-screen romance but reportedly didn’t gel off-screen. The pair have unfollowed each other on Instagram and Goggins didn’t namecheck Lou Wood in his tribute post.
Are guests at the real White Lotus hotel really like they are on the show?
The entry-level villas at the White Lotus hotel, Four Seasons Koh Samui, cost over £1,000 per night and each come with their own outdoor bath or private pool. There are three restaurants, some with sweeping views out across the Gulf of Thailand, and some offering barefoot luxury close to the beach. Some of the original White Lotus film set is still up, including the sign by the pool that was used in filming. The hotel is also offering a White Lotus cocktail menu. Read our full review of the real White Lotus hotel in Thailand.
“Our guests are ultra high net worth individuals who come here to relax and really cut off from what’s going on in their day to day lives,” JJ told City AM. “Look, it’s exaggerated.There are guests, I wouldn’t call them divas, I’d call them… There are guests who require hand-holding because they require their itinerary to be on time and scheduled. They want everything planned out for them. You manage guests… that’s what we do.”
Read more: The White Lotus season 3 finale sucked: here’s why