Things got steamy on the set of Virgin River (and we're not talking about that shocking forest fire). To celebrate the premiere of season five, which arrived on September 7 with ten brand-new episodes (with two more to follow on November 30), a slideshow was posted to the official Virgin River Instagram featuring photos of three of the show's stars, who also happened to be celebrating their birthdays. While there was already lots to cheer for, the producers totally caught our attention with the post, which featured a surprise thirst trap of stars Colin Lawrence, 53, and Benjamin Hollingsworth, 39.
Official ‘Virgin River’ Instagram Shares Thirst Trap to Celebrate Season 5 Premiere
It's a hot one in the town of Virgin River
In the first slide, Lawrence (who plays John "Preacher" Middleton) and Hollingsworth (who portrays Dan Brady) are pictured shirtless in the sun, with their T-shirts wrapped around their necks. The photo was taken while filming a scene for season five, where their characters go digging with Jack Sheridan (played by Martin Henderson).
Both Lawrence and Hollingsworth celebrated their birthdays on the 7th, the same day that Part 1 of season five dropped on Netflix. However, they weren't the only ones. The following slide saw co-star Marco Grazzini (AKA Mike Valenzuela) looking quite dapper in a suit as he took a break from shooting. He celebrated his 43rd birthday on the exact same day (the producers of Virgin River really chose their release date well).
Fans seemingly loved the celebratory post, like one user, who jokingly wrote: “I volunteer as tribute to jump out of an oversized birthday cake for any of them.” Another commented, “Anyone else suddenly wanting a calendar with the men of VR?”
Hollingsworth marked the day with his own post, as seen above, which he captioned: “Shoveling since Sept 7th 1984. Also, celebrating Bday’s today are my brothers in [muscle arm emoji] my cast mates @colinlawrence97 and @themarcograzzini have a good one boys!”
Meanwhile, Grazzini celebrated the big day with an upload to his own account, featuring a selfie of him and Hollingsworth. “@hollingsworthb Couple of dudes just waiting on their bday,” Grazzini wrote. “Sept 7th [winking face emoji]. @colinlawrence97 were you at?”
New Virgin River episodes and these photos? Talk about a good day.
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