This article contains spoilers for the latest episode of The White Lotus.

Sam Nivola has addressed his much-discussed kiss in this week’s instalment of The White Lotus.

In the latest episode of the award-winning drama, viewers saw the intoxicated Ratliff brothers share a prolonged kiss on the lips, at the encouragement of two girls they were partying with on aboard a super yacht.

Fans already had their eyes on the brothers, played by Sam Nivola and Patrick Schwarzenegger, following their behaviour in episode one, which culminated in one walking nude to the bathroom to masturbate, while the other’s gaze lingered on him.

During a new interview with GQ, Sam described the kiss as a “defining” moment for Lochlan, although he downplayed the perceived sexual elements of the moment.

“The way it’s edited and the way it looks, it is really sort of raunchy and there’s moments leading up to that are really sexually charged,” he explained.

“But I think really that’s supposed to be a red herring for the audience where really it’s just [that] Lochlan just wants attention and he just wants his brother to like him.”

Describing his character’s actions as “terrible”, Sam went on to say that it’s ultimately “up to the audience” what they take from the scene.

He also put his character’s interest in his siblings’ sexuality down to the fact that he’s a “curious” teenager who is still “learning about the world”, and shared that the moment was filmed “a few different ways”, after “a lot” of discussion.

“At the end of the day, it was supposed to just be like they’re all really fucked up, and, of course, kissing your brother is incredibly wrong and weird and gross,” Sam stated.

“But I think as is the case with The White Lotus, it’s like these crazy actions and sort of heightened reality coming from really real emotions that are actually really relatable to your everyday guy.

“[Lochlan is] desperate for his brother’s approval and he’s out doing this partying drug thing with Saxon, which is a thing that Saxon keeps talking about, and all he talks about is sex.

“He’s like, ‘Sex is the main point of life. You need to get laid. That’s what you need’. I’m like, ‘OK. Well, in this charged sexual environment, what can I do to make you notice me and get you to approve of me?’. And then, he does the wrong thing to make that happen.”

Patrick already shared his take earlier in the week, claiming: “[Mike White, creator of The White Lotus] wants to leave that up to the interpretation of the audience of what is happening.

“Was a power shift happening? Is there a different power dynamic between him and Lochy? Is Lochy coming on to him? Is it the drugs? Is it the girls pressuring him? What is it? So, I think he leaves that open-ended for the audience to try to decipher.”

His co-star Charlotte Le Bon has also said that Patrick didn’t have the easiest time shooting the kiss between the two brothers, during a recent interview about filming the latest episode.

The White Lotus continues on Monday in the UK on Sky and Now.