François Arnaud, Connor Storrie, Hudson Williams, and Robbie G.K. are among the Heated Rivalry cast members who have become household names after the Crave original series’ massive success over the 2025 holiday season. But the cast’s newfound fame has also come with some negative side effects, specifically online harassment from entitled viewers.
Heated Rivalry follows the secret romance between rival professional hockey players, Canadian Shane Hollander (played by Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (played by Storrie). Arnaud and G.K. play the series’ second main couple, American ice hockey player Scott Hunter and smoothie shop barista Christopher “Kip” Brady, who also have a secret romance before Scott comes out publicly toward the end of the season. Following the success of the series, all eyes have been on the Heated Rivalry cast’s personal and professional lives, which led to drama in the middle of January 2026 after Arnaud and Storrie sparked speculation that they were dating. Read on for an explainer on what happened.
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Are François Arnaud and Connor Storrie dating from Heated Rivalry?
As of writing, Arnaud and Storrie haven’t confirmed their relationship, however, they sparked speculation they were dating after they were photographed leaving New York together on January 14, 2026. Both Arnaud and Storrie were photographed at John F. Kennedy International Airport, where Storrie was seen in a jean jacket, and Arnaud wore a navy puffer jacket.
After the photos went viral, Arnaud faced online harassment from fans on social media, which led Arnaud to unfollow his entire Heated Rivalry cast, including Storrie, Hudson Williams, and Robbie G.K., on his Instagram. He also unfollowed the series’ creator Jacob Tierney. According to Just Jared, his following list went from 1,000 to 213. Arnaud has since re-followed most of his cast again.
“François Arnaud has unfollowed everyone involved with Heated Rivalry on Instagram including the whole cast and creator Jacob Tierney. “Nasty comments and online harassment seem to have caused François to limit his online presence,” a user wrote on X, while another tweeted, “They need to leave this gentle king alone.”
One more user wrote, “The comments and harassment is horrible and unjustified, but I don’t get unfollowing his cast members?” Other users questioned whether Arnaud would return for Season 2 of Heated Rivalry. “If because of toxic fans we don’t get François Arnaud in season 2 of HEATED Rivalry I’m gonna lose my fucking mind believe me,” a user wrote. Another tweeted, “Saying françois isn’t helping by unfollowing any accounts related to the show. HE IS GETTING DEATH THREATS.” One more wrote, “THE QUEER MAN ON THIS SHOW IS GETTING DEATH THREATS. & you think he’s just being ‘messy’ and ‘asking for attention’ this fandom is full of people who belong in padded rooms.”
After his massive unfollowing, Arnaud shared an Instagram post of him flipping off the camera, seemingly in response to the online harassment he received. His post also included photos of Williams flipping off the camera at the Golden Globes. “Learning from the very best. 👑 @hudsonwilliamsofficial,” he captioned the post.
Arnad came out as bisexuality in an Instagram Story for Bi Visibility Day in September 2020. “Last week, I was chatting with work friends, and as I brought up a trip I’d taken with an ex-girlfriend, I asked myself —for the ten-thousandth time— how to tell such a story without making it seem like that was the whole story of me,” he wrote at the time.
He continued, “I’m sure many bisexual guys feel the same and end up doing as I did: letting other people’s assumptions of straightness stand uncorrected. Perhaps out of fear of oversharing. Under the guise of privacy, maybe. Probably because ‘masculinity’ is a most fragile currency, ready to nose-dive at the first sign of vulnerability or difference. And because it’s really fucking scary to give up your privilege. Without a doubt because stigmas of indecisiveness, infidelity, deception and trendiness are still clinging to bisexuality.”
He ended his post by explaining why he wanted to publicly come out as bisexual. “But here’s the thing. Silence has the perverse effect of perpetuating those stereotypes, making bi guys invisible, and leading people to doubt that we even exist. No wonder it’s still a chore to acknowledge bisexuality without getting into lengthy explanations,” he wrote. “So yes, labels are frustrating and words, imperfect. But I’ve always considered myself bisexual. Not confused or trying to look edgy. Not disloyal. Not ashamed. Not invisible. Happy #bivisibilityday this Wednesday.”
In an interview with Variety after his debut on Heated Rivalry in December 2025, Arnaud also explained his decision to come out as bisexual on Instagram. “The only reason I said something…is because I did not feel ashamed of it,” he said. “I felt hiding it, concealing it actively, which I would have had to do at that point, was an act that indicated shame. I was like, ‘That’s not how I feel.’ I said it because I didn’t want to hide. But I’m not particularly interested in talking about my relationships, or all that. I don’t want to invite people into my home.”
Arnaud also addressed a comment made by Tierney in an interview with Xtra, where Tierney was asked whether the real-life sexualities of Williams and Storrie, were relevant to the series. “I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff,” Tierney said at the time. “I’ll tell you something about the casting of both of these roles. You can’t ask questions like that when you’re casting, right? It’s actually against the law. So what you have to gauge is somebody’s enthusiasm and willingness to do the work.”
He continued, “And that’s what’s so impressive about both of these guys is they came into this being like, ‘Yeah, we’re here to do this, and we are here to make this story feel authentic and to be as real as possible.’ And they fucking hit it out of the park.”
In his interview with Variety, Arnaud also agreed that the cast’s real-life sexualities don’t have relevance to the characters they’re playing. “It’s absurd to think that you should be allowed to ask about someone’s sexuality when they’re trying to get hired for a job,” he said. “It’s crazy, like we’re only going to hire you if you’re gay? And then it’s, like, how gay are you? It’s a spectrum.”
Jason Pham
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