The White Lotus season three was originally set in a completely different country

This article does not contain spoilers from The White Lotus season three finale.

The White Lotus season three is almost at its close, with the highly-anticipated finale released today.

And from the viral fan theories to the A-list cast (Aimee Lou Wood, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Leslie Bibb and Sam Rockwell to name a few), the HBO show's third instalment is all anyone can talk about.

It was the location that made headlines this week, set this season in Koh Samui, Thailand. And with The White Lotus kickstarting a travel surge to the region, the trending filming spots are going viral.

Producers have opened up recently about the third season's location. And surprisingly, it wasn't Mike White's first choice.

In fact, following the first two seasons based in Maui, Hawaii, and Sicily, Italy, respectively, Mike White had hoped for the third season to take place in Japan.

"Originally, I wanted to shoot in Japan," White explained in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, going on to recall that HBO wanted it to be Thailand.

"I was in Thailand when my dad and I got eliminated from The Amazing Race," he continued of his past experience there. "Two weeks in an elimination station with all these other bitter reality contestants, I was just like, ‘I don’t ever want to come back here.’

"But HBO was really pushing it because Thailand had good tax incentives. As an artist, your knee-jerk reaction is, ‘I’m not doing that!’"

However, White later changed his mind on a subsequent trip to Thailand with producer David Bernad, where he reportedly hallucinated some of the season three plots, while in hospital in Chiang Mai after contracting bronchitis.

"I saw Mike the next morning, and he told me what he’d hallucinated," Bernad recalled. "That’s basically what we shot."

As for season four, there are said to be two locations in the works, with creators considering one of two countries for filming - Egypt or Mexico.

"Right now, it's looking like the next season of The White Lotus will be shot in Egypt or Mexico," a source reportedly explained to Parade of the fourth instalment. "They want to pick somewhere they haven't shot yet, so a new continent. They want to go somewhere completely new since this season is in Asia, which is why they're between the two. The decision should be made soon."

The White Lotus season three episodes air on Sky and streaming service NOW every Monday.