Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood dismiss feud rumours in joint interview: “We care about each other very deeply”
In an emotional joint interview, The White Lotus stars Walton Goggins and Aimee Lou Wood have cleared up rumours about a feud following the end of Mike White’s hit HBO series.
In season three of the show, which ended in April, Goggins and Wood played Rick and Chelsea, a couple vacationing at the ritzy White Lotus resort in Thailand. He is there to confront the demons of his past, while she is there hoping that the escape will help him move on. They quickly became a fan favourite, with audiences rooting for their tortured love story. This was only heightened when White put the characters at the centre of the intensely emotional finale.
Rumours about the duo began to swirl shortly after, with fans pointing out that the co-stars had unfollowed each other on Instagram and had not made any public appearances together. Last month, Goggins abruptly ended an interview with a British journalist after being asked repeatedly about his relationship with Wood.
Now, the two stars have sat down for a joint interview with Variety to directly address the media firestorm surrounding their relationship. According to both, there is nothing to see there.
“There is no feud,” Goggins insisted. “I adore, I love this woman madly, and she is so important to me.” Comparing Wood to romantic comedy greats Goldie Hawn and Meg Ryan, he continued, “She can do anything, and she will. You watch what the next 20 years of her experience will be. I’ll be on an island, I think Greece. But she’s special. There is no feud. She is love and I know that I am that to her. We care about each other very deeply.”
Regarding the fact that they unfollowed each other on Instagram, a move that sparked months of intense speculation, Wood reflected, “I think it’s such a comment on where we’re at culturally. Why is everyone obsessing over Instagram? That is irrelevant. We don’t give a shite about Instagram.”
For his part, Goggins said that separating himself from a role after it’s complete is just part of his process. “I needed to just back away from everyone,” he explained. “I haven’t spoken to anyone. I couldn’t handle it. Judge me or don’t. I don’t give a fuck what you think. This is my process. Rick means everything to me, and Chelsea means everything to me. And so that’s what I needed to do for me to process all of this.”
As for Instagram specifically, he said, “If I may add, just to put this to bed? The following or unfollowing. I’m a grown-ass man.”
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