The creator of the hit HBO drama competed on seasons 14 and 18 of the globetrotting reality competition series. Mike White responds to White Lotus star Sydney S

The creator of the hit HBO drama competed on seasons 14 and 18 of the globe-trotting reality competition series.

Mike White responds to White Lotus star Sydney Sweeney's desire to do The Amazing Race with him

The creator of the hit HBO drama competed on seasons 14 and 18 of the globe-trotting reality competition series.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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October 27, 2025 10:58 p.m. ET

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Mike White and Sydney Sweeney. Credit:

Steve Granitz/FilmMagic; Neil Mockford/Getty

*The White Lotus *director* *Mike White and star Sydney Sweeney traveled to Hawaii to film season 1 — why not make it a world tour?

In the lead-up to her buzzy new boxing biopic *Christy*, Sweeney revealed a new goal: reality TV. In an interview with *Variety* published Monday, the athletic actress said of White, who has appeared on the reality competition series *The Amazing Race* twice: "Honestly, Mike and I would be a killer team."

White, who lost seasons 14 and 18 of the long-running series, concurred.

"I would definitely win with her," he told *Variety*. "She's the master at getting what she wants. And I mean that in an absolutely good way."**

Mike White with Sydney Sweeney and Alexandra Daddario at 'The White Lotus' Los Angeles premiere in 2021.

Kevin Winter/Getty

White cast Sweeney in a plum role for the premiere outing of his almost-anthology drama series, which, like *The Amazing Race*, hops from location to increasingly dramatic location.

*The White Lotus *season 1 centered on a group of guests and workers at the Hawaii location of the titular luxury resort chain. Sweeney played Olivia Mossbacher, the ironic, edgy, and politically provocative daughter of Connie Britton's high-powered exec, Nicole, and Steve Zahn's anxious Mark.

"There was just something very unaffected by her," White remembered. "She was very likable. And I thought that that would be helpful because the part is so unlikable on the page."

Four years later, after Sweeney shot to the top of the A-list, White reflected, "I don't know what makes somebody a star, but there is something about her that just is."

He also joked that, of course, he'd love to see Sweeney return to the series, but "I don't know if we could afford her now."

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White has been active as a screenwriter and actor since the late 1990s. He created and directed his first series, the self-discovery drama *Enlightened*, in 2011. The Laura Dern-led series ran for two seasons. After a failed pilot in 2016, White struck gold with *The White Lotus*, which racked up 11 Emmy nominations and five wins in 2022, and has since spawned two follow-up seasons, set in Sicily and then Thailand.**

Mel and Mike White on 'The Amazing Race' in 2010.

Monty Brinton/CBS

Though the majority of White's showbusiness career has been spent making believe, he's dabbled more than once in reality.

White and his father, Mel White, were cast on season 14 of *The Amazing Race *in 2009. The series pits teams of two contestants, who usually know each other prior, against each other in a race across unfamiliar lands toward a $1 million cash prize. The Whites were eliminated sixth on season 14, in an odd presaging of White the younger's *White Lotus *future in Thailand, but they returned for season 18, where they were eliminated second in Japan.

In 2023, the writer-director signaled his interest in an idea widely circulated by fans that would braid his *White Lotus *and *Amazing Race *experiences together, and potentially allow him to work with Sweeney again*. *

**"It would be easy to just be full-on anthology, but I think it's more fun to have little threads through the show," he shared, adding, "If the show goes on for a couple of seasons, it would be fun to have an all-star season."

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