Gogglebox was met with backlash during the latest episode of the Channel 4 show as the armchair critics returned to offer their views on telly offerings. Gladiators, The Apprentice, Celebrity Bear Hunt and The Fear Clinic: Face Your Phobia were among the series watched by our favourite Goggleboxers on Friday (February 21) evening.
However, it was a scene from the new season of The White Lotus, which launched on Sky on Monday, that gained the biggest reaction. The White Lotus became known for raunchy scenes and eye-widening moments in its first two seasons, set in Hawaii and Sicily, and the new season is carrying on the trend.
The third season of mystery drama kicked off with a new cast of characters arriving at a new White Lotus resort – this time in Thailand. Aimee Lou Wood and Walton Goggins play age gap couple Chelsea and Rick, Leslie Bibb, Carrie Coon and Michelle Monaghan play three longtime friends on a girls’ trip, and season one fan favourite Natasha Rothwell, who plays Belinda, is also a guest.
However, it is the family led by Jason Isaacs and Parker Posey, as Timothy and Victoria, that has caused the biggest stir thanks to the developing storyline between their adult children, played by Sarah Catherine Hook, Patrick Schwarzenegger and Sam Nivola, reports the Mirror.
Fans got a real eyeful during the opening episode as brothers Saxon and Lochlan, sharing a hotel room, set tongues wagging with an eye-popping scene. In one moment which has caused a stir, the elder brother Saxon (Schwarzenegger) probes his younger brother about his preferences in adult entertainment before marching off nude to the loo for some private time, his reflection prominently on display in the bathroom mirror.
While the Gogglebox regulars screens wisely veered away from the full monty, their reactions said it all. From Ellie and Izzy to Jenny and Lee and the family unit of Michael, Sally, Jake, and Harry, they were all visibly jolted, exclaiming a collective “Oh!”
Amidst the shock, Giles had his own take: “So far, so pervy, Mary,” he remarked to his also-baffled wife, while Jake assured his twin Harry: “I have never done this by the way!” nodding towards the screen as Saxon closed the bathroom door behind him.
Pete turned to sister Sophie on the show, musing: “Something happens to people when they stop in hotels, and going on to say it doesn’t matter if it is a budget one or an expensive one, there has been many a night when I have heard it through the walls. I put two shortbreads in my ears!”
Meanwhile, viewers at home were learning new tricks if Pete and Sophie’s anecdote was anything to go byone social media user on X quipped: “Now we know what to do with the complimentary shortbread biscuits in hotels, thanks Pete and Sophie.”