The White Lotus season 3: what we know so far about the hit HBO show's return

The White Lotus season 3 will welcome a whole host of new guests in a whole new destination, Thailand. Despite the luxury hotel brand being plagued by – spoiler alert – a waves of murders, it appears socialites are still willing to visit the opulent resorts. Following the success of season 1 and 2 of the award-winning Max anthology series', there’s been quite the hiatus considering The White Lotus season 2 debuted back in 2022. But, there's finally a release date. The White Lotus season 3 will arrive on February 16, 2025.

That's not the end of the exciting news we have to share though, as there's season 3’s cast to discuss, the likely plot, and the hit series' future. If we had a sun lounger to offer you, we'd say sit back, relax, and enjoy a dive into the luxurious world of The White Lotus. Though wherever you are in the world, get suitably comfy and read on to find out more. Full spoilers follow for The White Lotus seasons 1 and 2.

The White Lotus season 3 release date

The White Lotus season 3 officially has a release date. Thanks to The White Lotus season 3 trailer, it has been revealed that the Max show will return in February 2025. And we can get more specific, it'll be available to stream from February 16. It's welcome news considering the various delays this season has faced, but we had our hopes pinned on 2025, and we can't believe how soon it is.

In August, Walton Goggins – who plays guest Rick Hatchett in the new season – took to Instagram to confirm that filming had officially wrapped. From this news, we predicted a January or February launch date, so we're pretty pleased with ourselves.

Even better news, Max subscribers will get a "longer, bigger, crazier" season 3 of The White Lotus, with showrunner Mike White telling Entertainment Weekly (EW) it'll be a "supersized" instalment. This news has since been confirmed in an official Warner Bros. Discovery press release, which revealed that The White Lotus season 3 will be eight episodes. Two more than season 1, and one more than season 2. As per previous seasons, it'll debut on HBO and stream on Max.

The White Lotus season 3 trailer

The White Lotus Season 3 | Official Teaser | Max - YouTube

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An official teaser trailer was unveiled in December 2024 and it's a real doozy. For The White Lotus season 3, we already knew a little from the six-second teaser shared in a X/Twitter post from Max back in August. But, this new trailer gives us a whole lot more.

The teaser shows the guests arriving in Thailand and it's finally revealed why Belinda (Natasha Rothwell) returns from season 1 - she's on an exchange program and is visiting the Thai resort to experience a change of scenery. There's also a look at the new cast, including Aimee Lou Wood, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Leslie Bibb, and Jason Isaacs. Not forgetting a new foul-mouthed hotel guest, Rick Hatchett, played by Walton Goggins.

The trailer aptly says: "Everyone runs from pain towards pleasure, but they get there only to find more pain." And we're shown as much in a montage revealing scenes of debauchery, accusations, and what appears to be a masked robbery at gunpoint. As Parker Posey's character, Victoria Ratliff, puts it: "Something is off."

The White Lotus season 3 confirmed cast

Spoilers follow for The White Lotus season 1.

Here’s the confirmed cast for The White Lotus season 3, including a returning star from season 1 and the many new faces who'll be checking in this time around:

• Natasha Rothwell as Belinda Lindsey
• Leslie Bibb as Kate
• Parker Posey as Victoria Ratliff
• Carrie Coon as Laurie
• Jason Isaacs as Timothy Ratliff
• Patrick Schwarzenegger as Saxon Ratliff
• Michelle Monaghan as Jaclyn
• Sarah Catherine Hook as Piper Ratliff
• Walton Goggins as Rick Hatchett
• Aimee Lou Wood as Chelsea
• Sam Nivola as Lochlan Ratliff
• Lalisa 'Lisa' Manobal as Mook
• Lek Patravadi as Sritala
• Tayme Thapthimthong as Gaitok
• Scott Glenn as TBC
• Dom Hertakul as TBC
• Nicholas Duvernay as TBC
• Francesca Corney as TBC
• Arna Fedaravičius as TBC
• Christian Friedel as TBC
• Morgana O’Reilly as TBC
• Shalini Peiris as TBC
• Julian Kostov as TBC

As confirmed in the season 3 trailer, season 1’s unfortunate spa manager, Belinda (Natasha Rothwell), is back for more dealings with the satirical series' new elitist characters.

After meeting with Tanya (Jennifer Coolidge) in Hawaii and pitching her business plan, it appeared that Tanya might invest some of her wealth to support Belinda's dream. Clearly, though, she didn’t, hence Belinda seeking new horizons on the job exchange program. When it comes to her return in season 3, Natasha Rothwell told Variety: “Everyone needs to buckle up, because it’s going to get real!”

Aside from Belinda’s character, the other confirmed cast’s roles are as follows. As per Warner Bros. official character descriptions, we now know that Kate (Leslie Bibb) is: "one of three long-time friends on a girls' trip alongside Jaclyn (Michelle Monaghan) and Laurie (Carrie Coon). Rick Hatchett (Walton Goggins) is described as: "a rugged man with a chip on his shoulder" visiting the resort with his girlfriend Chelsea, (Aimee Lou Wood). Then, there's the Ratliff family - Timothy (Jason Isaacs), a wealthy businessman, Victoria (Parker Posey), his wife, and their three children; Piper (Sarah Catherine Hook), Lochlan (Sam Nivola), and Saxon (Patrick Schwarzenegger), who works for his father.

Alongside Belinda, there's also other hotel workers that have been listed in the main cast. These include Sritala (Lek Patravadi) described as: "one of the owners of The White Lotus and the visionary behind its wellness program", Mook (Lalisa Manobal), a health mentor for guests, and Gaitok (Tayme Thapthimthong), a security guard.

The White Lotus season 3 story speculation

Full spoilers follow for The White Lotus seasons 1 and 2.

The official story synopsis from Warner Bros. Discovery for The White Lotus season 3 reveals: "The social satire is set at an exclusive Thai resort and follows the exploits of various guests and employees over the span of a week." And so, much like the previous seasons of The White Lotus, creator Mike White is keeping pretty quiet about this season's plot.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter (THR), though, he revealed season 3 will be a “satirical and funny look at death and Eastern religion and spirituality. It feels like it could be a rich tapestry to do another round at White Lotus.”

In another interview with THR, White spoke about whether season 3 would start the way the other two seasons had – with a dead body: “I don’t think it needs to always be a body. There are so many ways that we want to reinvent the show each year. Like, what is this show, other than people? A fresh mystery, people maybe expect that. But I don’t feel constrained by expectation. It’s fun.”

There are a few things we know for certain about The White Lotus season 3. For starters, it's based at another luxury resort property – this time in Thailand – and Belinda arrives as part of an exchange program, seeking new adventure.

We also know a little about the new characters. As reported by Deadline, White was seeking 13 roles, including nine series regulars who “ranged in ages between 18-80s – with a patriarch, a corporate executive, an actress, a couple of mothers, a misfit, and a yogi among the bunch.” We now know there's the Ratliff family, made up of a husband, wife, and their three kids, three female friends enjoying a trip away after not seeing each other for a long time, Kate, Jaclyn and Laurie. Plus, there's a new couple in The White Lotus as Rick Hatchett and Chelsea arrive at the Thai resort. Where their trips will take them though, remains under wraps.

Considering each season has a whole new cast, there's not much point looking to the previous seasons for clues. Although, when it comes to Jennifer Coolidge, she may hope that the husband of her character Tanya – named Greg – returns in some capacity so she can get indirect revenge for his murderous plot to steal her fortune. Speaking with Variety, Coolidge said: "My hope for Jon [Gries] is that he's not finished with Greg. I hope there's some comeuppance for evil Greg. I think he should, I don't know, end up in a meat-grinding machine."

Will The White Lotus return after season 3?

With the success of the anthology series, we’d be really surprised if The White Lotus ends after three seasons. Thankfully, it sounds like HBO boss Casey Bloys is onboard for more installments.

Speaking with Variety about future plans for the show, he said: "I know Mike has a lot of ideas for where it could go. We’re lucky to be in business with him. And we have actors who now really, really want to be on the show because it’s a great opportunity and it’s great writing. So, I think as long as he wants to do it, we’ll go along for the ride. He’s really built a very interesting model to go from different parts of the world and have a rotating cast."

That's not quite a confirmation about a fourth entry, but it's certainly a positive putlook for Bloys to have. After all, there are so many different locations The White Lotus could head for next and, with new multifaceted characters that we'd no doubt love to hate, the scope of this series could be vast.

So, what could future seasons look like? Speaking to THR, White was asked whether he’d be open to revisiting Greg’s character in the future, to which he said: "It would be easy to just be a full-on anthology, but I think it’s more fun to have little threads through the show. If the show goes on for a couple of seasons, it would be fun to have an all-star season". An all-star season? Sign us up.

For more Max-focused coverage, read our guides on the best Max shows, best Max movies, The Last of Us season 2, and Peacemaker season 2.