Recently, Heated Rivalry star François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter in the Canada Crave/HBO Max series, has come under fire from fans of the show. It isn’t for anything he’s done, however: It’s about what he hasn’t done, which is talk about his relationship status. Now, none of us are owed that, of course, but that doesn’t stop headlines, or paparazzi-focused institutions like TMZ.
Paparazzi are, unfortunately, ubiquitous when it comes to celebrities. However, nothing they do shuuld be considered “exclusive,” since it was likely taken without permission. Despite this, TMZ recently posted an “exclusive” story about Arnaud and costar Connor Storrie having dinner together. Really, it’s less of a story and more of some photos with conjecture thrown in.
“So?! Friends, more than friends, it should only matter to them. I hope whatever their status is they are very very happy,” said another.
Going back to why Arnaud is suddenly enemy number one when it comes to fans of the show, there are some using these photos as an example of why this is something that Arnaud “staged” himself. Why? Who knows. He is private about his life, that doesn’t mean that he’s hiding a secret relationship with Storrie. And even if they were dating, that is nobody’s business but their own. They’re two consenting adults.
The fixation on picking apart celebrities’ personal lives and creating narratives about the most minor of details is concerning. TMZ only fuels it by feeding into that speculation. It’s one thing to document that they had dinner together; though still an invasion of privacy, it’s at least mostly harmless. Spinning a story that fuels into a narrative that is already causing issues online not just for Arnaud, but for Storrie as well?
Please keep your shipping to yourselves
Like I have said previously, I am no stranger to the idea of shipping. But that is something that should stay within fandom spaces unless it is a confirmed relationship. Sure, it’s not unusual for us as a society to speculate about whether or not so and so are dating. We’ve all read The National Enquirer at one point. The problem with what TMZ and other gossip rags are doing is that they’re adding context where there is none.
That kind of sensationalist “journalism” is more harmful than it is entertaining. Because god forbid men eat in restaurants, right?
The internet has swung wildly into toxicity in fandom spaces such as these. It becomes an echo chamber, and people feel empowered by those with similar viewpoints. Quickly, it spills from fandom spaces into public ones, like TMZ, or, worse, on the social media of the celebrities themselves.
Rachel (she/her) is a freelancer at The Mary Sue. She has been freelancing since 2013 in various forms, but has been an entertainment freelancer since 2016. When not writing her thoughts on film and television, she can also be found writing screenplays, fiction, and poetry. She currently lives in Brooklyn with her cats Carla and Thorin Oakenshield but is a Midwesterner at heart. She is also a tried and true emo kid and the epitome of “it was never a phase, Mom,” but with a dual affinity for dad rock. She also co-hosts the Hazbin Hotel Pod, which can be found on TikTok and YouTube.
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.
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.”
“Is there only one way to have ‘authentic’ gay sex on tv?” asked Arnaud in an Instagram comment. “Should the sex that closeted hockey players have look like the sex that sceney LA gay guys have?”
Williams took the high road on his Instagram Story. “But truly go watch I Love LA! Jordan and the cast are great!!” he wrote.
The stars’ posts come after Firstman compared them to the sex scenes on his own HBO Max show, which he said a “straight guy could not write,” despite the fact that Heated Rivalry creator, writer and director Jacob Tierney being openly gay.
“Yeah, we’re going for it. It’s gay,” he told Vulture. “I’m sorry, I watched those first two episodes of Heated Rivalry, and it’s just not gay. It’s not how gay people f*ck. There’s so few things that actually show gay sex.”
Firstman later added that “a lot of people just want entertainment or to see two straight hockey players pretending to be gay and f*cking.”
After Heated Rivalry‘s two-episode premiere last month, LGBTQ fans have passionately taken to the show’s depiction of gay intimacy in the adaptation of Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novel series.
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in ‘Heated Rivalry’ (Sabrina Lantos)
Williams previously told Deadline, “The sex scenes, we rehearse them so heavily and we knew what we were gonna do going in, that they’re also a lot of fun.”
“Yeah, it’s a dance, added his romantic lead Connor Storrie.
Arnaud explained to Deadline, “They chose people who believed in the usefulness of these scenes to tell that story. … I liked that our scenes with Kip [played by Robbie GK] were showing another side of sexuality, which is tentative and repressed and like role-play almost, and it’s just two people who are actually just giving in, and the joy of that.”
