SEASON 4 of The White Lotus has been delayed after Mike White ‘insisted’ on joining the Survivor cast despite pleas from HBO execs to focus on his hit show, The U.S. Sun can reveal.
Due to Mike’s prestigious role of being the creator, showrunner, writer, and executive producer, his absence, which makes him “unreachable” for an entire month, has been a blow to pre-production.
Mike White attends the Los Angeles Season 2 premiere of The White Lotus at Goya Studios on October 20, 2022[/caption]
Nick Wilson, Angelina Keeley and Mike White during the finale of Survivor: David vs. Goliath in 2018[/caption]
In early June, Mike, 54, flew off to the remote islands of Fiji to film the 50th season of Survivor after he became a fan-favorite contestant of the series back in season 37.
Due to the format of the show, contestants are to have absolutely zero contact with the outside world for the entire time they are part of the game.
The game itself lasts a maximum of 26 days if the player makes it to the Final Tribal Council, but they are expected to give up their belongings, including their phones, before official filming starts.
According to a production insider, filming for season 4 of The White Lotus is expected to begin in “early to mid 2026” – which is delayed from the network’s initial projections.
“[HBO] wanted to get the season out around a year and a half max from when season 3 was released but Mike being on Survivor, and some other production factors, are making this look like there will be a full two-year wait, if not longer, between seasons.
“The issue is Mike is not just the creator. He’s the sole writer, showrunner, and even helps edit, which is really rare for someone in his position.
“So to have the one person who essentially controls the whole franchise be unreachable for 5 plus weeks… that will inevitably delay things.
“A big reason it was a stressful move on his part is they now have no contact whatsoever with him,” the source claimed.
Mike White, wins the Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Anthology Series or Movie, and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Anthology Series of Movie[/caption]
Mike White poses backstage with the Best Limited or Anthology Series or Television Film award for The White Lotus at the 80th Annual Golden Globe Awards[/caption]
The insider emphasized that “everyone is still making it work” and is “working around it” but that it’s “no doubt frustrating to have this big pause during crunch time when a lot of people are counting on him.”
They added: “At the same time, people are excited to see him on the show and think it’s hilarious he’s doing it again. But HBO execs were not thrilled at first about Mike being on Survivor.
“But he was adamant he had to do it. He assured them that next season and all future seasons [of The White Lotus] will be better and will benefit if he has this experience.
“Mike has full creative control of the franchise, essentially, and is HBO’s golden boy of the moment so they wanted to make him happy and finally obliged.”
While the highly anticipated location for season 4 has yet to be released, reports have circulated that the team is eyeing landscapes that are different from the beach settings that made the show famous in the first three seasons.
Norway, Switzerland, and Austria are reportedly all being considered as options for next season.
The U.S. Sun has reached out to a rep at HBOMax for comment.
OUTWIT, OUTPLAY, OUTLAST
In 2018, after playing a dominating social game that included some major strategic moves, Mike was a frontrunner to win the 37th season of Survivor.
The jury, which is formed of contestants from that season who were voted out but now determine the Sole Survivor, made it clear at the time that they were “heavily leaning” towards voting for Mike over his two fellow finalists, Nick Wilson and Angelina Keeley.
However, Mike admitted to “wussing out” of Final Tribal Council and downplaying his game, resulting in the win being handed to Nick.
Survivor 50 line-up revealed
- Jenna – Season 1
- Colby – Season 2
- Stephenie – Season 10
- Cirie – Season 12
- Ozzy – Season 13
- Coach – Season 18
- Aubry – Season 32
- Chrissy – Season 35
- Christian – Season 37
- Angelina – Season 37
- Mike – Season 37
- Rick – Season 38
- Jonathan – Season 42
- Dee – Season 45
- Emily – Season 45
- Q – Season 46
- Tiffany – Season 46
- Charlie – Season 46
- Genevieve – Season 47
- Kamilla – Season 48
- Joe – Season 48
- Kyle – Season 48
- TBD – Season 49
- TBD – Season 4
Following season 37, Mike, who had not yet launched The White Lotus but already had a thriving Hollywood career, was candid about feeling guilty if he had won the money over others who financially struggled more.
“There was a part of me that was afraid to, I don’t know, fight too hard for it. I was never at mixed purposes as far as getting to the end.
“But at the end I did sort of feel like… It was a little bit more of an existential crisis for me,” he said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly in 2018.
Mike’s Survivor experience led to some inspiration for The White Lotus – including both pivotal plot points and even some casting choices.
In season 2 of The White Lotus, Angelina, who will also be on Survivor 50, made a cameo alongside fellow fan-favorite, Kara Kay.
His tribemate, Alec Merlino, had a small role on season 1, while season 37 icon Natalie Cole appeared alongside Carl Boudreaux for a season 3 scene.
Fans have widely speculated that more Survivor fan-favorites will be featured in the highly coveted guest slots for season 4 of The White Lotus.
Survivor host Jeff Probst and Mike White on the thirteenth episode of SURVIVOR: David vs. Goliath[/caption]
Sam Nivola, Charlotte Le Bon, David Bernad, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Parker Posey, Mike White, Walton Goggins, Lisa, Sarah Catherine Hook, Leslie Bibb and Jason Isaacs attend the Los Angeles Premiere of The White Lotus[/caption]
