Mike White came second on Survivor. He used what he learnt to create The White Lotus.

With most TV shows, there are a bunch of people involved in its development: the creator, the director, and various writers who come up with the storyline and script.

Mike White is all of those for The White Lotus.

Yep, the Emmy Award-winner not only created the most-talked-about show on television right now, but he also directed and wrote the entire thing.

From Jennifer Coolidge's Tanya to Parker Posey's Victoria, he came up with all of the characters and everything they said.

Watch the trailer for season three of The White Lotus. Post continues below.

White has also been on reality TV three times.

The 54-year-old who's also known for writing and starring in the 2003 film, School of Rock, appeared on two seasons of The Amazing Race with his dad, James Melville 'Mel' White in 2009 and 2011.

He also competed on Survivor: David vs. Goliath in 2018, where he came second.

His loss to Nick Wilson created so much controversy online that a podcast titled Mike White Was Robbed was created.

You see, he wasn't just any random contestant, Mike White was an icon of the game.

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Mike White is forever a mood.🍷 #Survivor #MikeWhite #RealityTV

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White was already in the entertainment industry when he decided to go on reality TV.

"I remember I was at a party at Courteney Cox’s house - I’m not really good friends with her, but I was there. And I was just about to go on Amazing Race," he told The New Yorker in 2021.

"And Jennifer Aniston was there, and I was so proud and excited. I was, like, 'I’m going on Amazing Race with my dad!' I could see Jennifer Aniston’s eyes being, like, Why the f**k...?"

Mike and Mel White. Image: CBS.

These days, White watches Survivor to study people, to understand their character and motivation.

"I still feel like, even on the most contrived reality show, the people are human and they’re more interesting than some of the most well-scripted drama," he told the publication.

"And for me, as a writer of drama, I aspire to do what reality television already does. To create characters that are surprising and dimensional and do weird sh*t."

From the beginning of the first season of The White Lotus, you can already draw parallels between the reality TV show and the HBO hit.

A group of widely different characters, arriving on an island and there's nowhere to go.

"Survivor is not that dissimilar to [The White Lotus], which is a lot of times just people kind of kvetching about who's tending the fire or they're hangry because they haven't had anything to eat," White told NPR.

"But then the music is making it feel like this is going to end up bad for somebody. And then you have these transitions of sharks in the water. And I was like, we do that in White Lotus."

In season one, White cast his fellow Survivor tribe mate Alex Merlino to play a bartender. And in season two, he cast two more contestants, Angelina Keeley and Kara Kay, to play some guests in episode one.

Image: HBO.

For season three, former castaways Natalie Cole and Carl Boudreaux popped up as a couple dining in the resort restaurant.

The creator also referenced the show while accepting the award for Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for season one of The White Lotus at the 2022 Emmys.

"On Survivor, the way to stay in the game is you lower your threat level," he said at the time.

"And it's like, now I feel like I've raised my threat level. And I just want to stay in the game. Awards are great, I love writing, I love doing what I do.

"Don't come for me. Don't vote me off the island, please!"

You can watch The White Lotus on Binge now.

Feature image: CBS/Instagram/@michellemonaghan.

This article was originally published on December 14, 2022 and has since been updated with new information.

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