EXCLUSIVE: “If it’s not the biggest hit out of Canada ever, it’s one of them,” says Sean Cohan about Heated Rivalry, the red-hot Canadian-produced ice hockey romance. Cohan is President of Bell Media, the media giant that owns CTV and Crave, the streamer that launched the Jacob Tierney show, which is produced by Brendan Brady under the Accent Aigu banner.
Bell Media now plans to capitalize on this distinctly Canadian content moment. “There is absolutely more coming post Heated Rivalry,” says Cohan. “In addition to the fact that Heated Rivalry will go on, we’ve got high hopes for Jacob and Brendan and the folks at Accent Aigu, and what they’re going to produce in that universe and elsewhere.”
In March 2024 and in his first interview after joining Bell Media, Cohan told Deadline that he was “pot committed” on content. When Bell bought UK-based distributor Sphere Abacus, he explained why the company was doing that deal as well as backing ‘Northern Lights’ – meaning Canadian creators with worldwide ambitions. When we sit down with the former Nielsen and A+E exec during the London TV Screenings he says: “We recognized that the Canadian market, the product and the creative brand was misunderstood and underestimated. It’s a very nice case study or proof of the point having an incredibly buzzy show like Heated Rivalry.”
Crave, along with the likes of Stan in Australia, is one of a new breed of domestic streamer that is making or co-producing international hits. Other Crave shows that have bubbled up include Empathy from Quebec-born actor and screenwriter Florence Longpré. The second season is a co-production with France’s Canal+. From the CTV side there is Sullivan’s Crossing, which airs in the U.S. on The CW.
In terms of the pipeline of new shows from Crave, there is Slo Pitch, which Bell Media announced with the headline ‘Beer, Lesbians and Baseball!’ From Shaftesbury, Boss & Co and Elliot Page’s Pageboy Productions, the half-hour mockumentary follows an underdog queer softball team. Buzz has been building around that one this week at the Screenings.
There’s also Yaga, a half-hour drama starring Carrie-Ann Moss (The Matrix), Noah Reid (Schitt’s Creek), Clark Backo (Letterkenny), as well as Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams. Kat Sandler is writer-showrunner on the mystery thriller, which is based on her play. For Bell Media, it’s an in-house affair with Blink49 Studios, which it backs, producing alongside Front Street Pictures, and Sphere Abacus selling it internationally.
Tom Green’s Funny Farm is coming out of a development deal with Tom Green Productions and there should be news soon of what’s coming out of a deal with Seth Rogen’s Point Grey.
‘Re-Heating’
Six of the top-ten most-watched shows on Crave were Canadian originals over the all-important holiday viewing period and the streamer has added about a 1.5 million subs over the last two years. It had 4.6 million subs at the last official count.
Cohan says there is a Heated Rivalry effect on the numbers, which can partly be discerned by analyzing what new customers tune into first after they sign up. “It’s definitely delivered an uptick,” he says. “There’s a decent number of subs that have joined for that.” He also talks about ‘re-Heating’, a term coined by Canadian press for the folks who have Heated Rivalry on repeat. “Roughly a third have watched it more than two times and I’m hearing about really amazing stats where some people are even getting into the double-digit viewing, which is wild.”
Heated Rivalry will not, however, be winning any Emmys – it not eligible. Cohan says: “People say: ‘The Emmys isn’t allowed to give Heated Rivalry an award. Is that a problem?’ Well, the show’s already got a fair bit of recognition, and the fans love it, and they’re re-watching it, and we’re going to continue to drive it.”
Awards aside, Cohan and Bell Media want to harness the buzz and use that to put a new generation of Canadian shows on the map. “It’s not just the Bell Media story, but we want to be at the center of it,” he says. Heated Rivalry may just be sparking a Canadian drama power play.
Crave’s breakout sports romance gears up for a bigger, more public second season.
Fans of Heated Rivalry will not be off the ice for much longer. Season 2 is officially set to premiere in spring 2027, with production scheduled to begin this summer. After months of online speculation and fan anticipation, the confirmation makes clear that the slow-burning hockey romance is not only renewed but actively charging into its next chapter.
The series streams on Canada’s Crave (and HBO Max in the U.S.), which renewed the show before the first season had even finished airing. That early renewal reflected the network’s confidence in the adaptation and the audience response it generated almost immediately.
According to Crave, the series ranked among the platform’s top-streamed scripted originals during its debut window. Episodes consistently trended on X and TikTok on premiere nights, while fan edits drew millions of combined views across platforms. The show additionally earned strong critical marks, holding a high audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and emerging as one of the most discussed queer romance series of the year.
By confirming a firm premiere timeline, the network signals that Season 2 is positioned as a flagship return. As a result, the sustained online engagement and steady international viewership have solidified the show as more than a niche adaptation. Instead, it has become a crossover streaming success.
Meanwhile, showrunner Jacob Tierney said the writers’ room is already shaping the next chapter. The extended production window allows the team to carefully develop both the emotional arcs and the high-intensity hockey sequences that define the show’s identity. Because the series hinges on a balance between sports authenticity and intimate character drama, that additional time reflects the scale of the ambition behind the 2027 premiere.
The Long Game Takes Center Ice
For Season 2, the focus shifts to The Long Game, Rachel Reid’s sequel novel that continues the story of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov beyond the secrecy that defined their early relationship. While the first installment centered on stolen moments and the constant threat of exposure, the sequel pivots toward what happens after the initial tension gives way to something more permanent. Consequently, the emotional stakes evolve from desire and concealment to stability and commitment.
This time, the narrative moves into public scrutiny, contract negotiations, career transitions and the strain of sustaining a relationship under pressure. After all, professional sports culture does not pause for personal growth. Media attention intensifies. Team leadership roles add responsibility. Identity and performance intersect in ways that complicate intimacy.
Tierney has hinted that the adaptation will remain faithful to the novel’s emotional depth while broadening its scope on television. Rather than recreating the first season’s secrecy, the new episodes will examine endurance and visibility. In other words, the rivalry evolves into a partnership, and the question becomes whether that partnership can withstand the spotlight.
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Draft Day: Returning Stars and Fresh Picks
At the same time, the cast lineup remains central to the show’s momentum. Connor Storrie’s portrayal of Ilya thrives on contradiction. He carries himself with swagger, sharp humor and visible confidence, yet there is always an undercurrent of restraint beneath it. On the surface, Ilya puts on a brave face for the locker room and the media. However, in private moments, Storrie allows flashes of insecurity and longing to surface. That tension between outward dominance and inward vulnerability gives the character depth.
Opposite him, Hudson Williams plays Shane with a steadier energy. By contrast, Shane is disciplined, methodical and emotionally guarded. Where Ilya leads with impulse, Shane leads with control. As a result, his quiet resolve becomes a grounding force. Williams communicates much of Shane’s inner conflict through subtle shifts in posture and expression rather than overt dialogue, which makes the performance feel internal, deliberate and tightly held.
Together, they function as a kind of emotional yin and yang. While Ilya operates on fire and instinct, Shane is structured and restrained. Ilya pushes boundaries, tests limits and thrives on friction. Meanwhile, Shane absorbs pressure, calculates risk and values stability. One challenges. The other steadies. Ultimately, that push and pull creates the propulsion that drives the series forward.
Season 2 will also introduce new cast members, including additional teammates, coaching staff and league rivals who will deepen the professional stakes. In addition, producers have indicated that several supporting characters from the book series will take on expanded roles, creating more storylines within the broader hockey world. The expanded ensemble reflects the series’ ambition to depict not only a romance but a functioning professional league.
As both characters’ careers advance, locker room politics, media narratives and team hierarchies will play a larger role. Even so, the romance remains central, unfolding within a competitive structure that does not easily bend.
No More Time in the Penalty Box
Ultimately, the spring 2027 return arrives with heightened expectations. Season 1 delivered tension, payoff and emotional clarity, turning its leads into fan favorites and its rivalry into appointment viewing. Now, Season 2 faces the challenge of expanding that foundation without repeating it.
With scripts in development and cameras preparing to roll, the creative team appears focused on evolution rather than repetition. The secrecy that once defined Shane and Ilya’s connection will give way to visibility and consequence. In the end, the next chapter is not about rekindling a spark. Instead, it is about sustaining it under brighter lights and heavier pressure.
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.
Williams and Storrie’s triumphant walk was closely followed and applauded by the watching crowds, with the two actors posing amid smiles and nods to fans.
The Olympics’ official Instagram account shared a carousel of photos from the day, borrowing a quote from the movie Mean Girls for the caption: “Get in, loser, we’re going to Milan Cortina 2026.”
Comments on the post include enthusiastic fans who pointed out that the choice of the two actors as torchbearers for the Olympics is an opportunity for representation for the LGBTQ+ community in the world of sports, one that “gives hope” for the future. One user wrote, “You guys are really iconic for this. You are really changing the world and having such a positive impact on it.” Others simply celebrated their Heated Rivalry fandom, like the show’s Canadian production company, Crave, which commented, “Call it seated rivalry because we were so sat watching this” on the post.
Connor Storrie, torchbearer for Milan Cortina 2026
Courtesy of Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, torchbearers for Milan Cortina 2026
Ilya and Shane are carrying a torch for each other on the Crave/HBO Max breakout hit “Heated Rivalry,” and now the actors who play them are doing the same — as part of the Winter Olympics!
Milano Cortina 2026 @ Instagram
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, suited up in pink-and-white tracksuits, appeared in Feltre, Italy, Sunday, where they took turns carrying the Olympic torch as part of the Milano Cortina 2026 relay.
The relay concludes February 6 in Milan ahead of the Winter Olympic Games, held there from February 6-22.
The guys were a crowd-pleasing pair, holding hands overhead triumphantly.
One of the first to comment was “Heated Rivalry’s” creator, Jacob Tierney, along with Canada’s Olympic team.
“Heated Rivalry,” a rare series with gay characters as leads, has been a ratings juggernaut as audiences have become captivated by the passionate love story of fictional closeted hockey stars Ilya, a no-nonsense Russian, and Shane, a sensitive Canadian, both of them dealing with tremendous pressure to succeed — and to avoid disappointing their families and sponsors.
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, the stars of Heated Rivalry, have seen their public profiles skyrocket from obscurity to global obsession in the scant two months since the show premiered.
The stars of the popular Canadian hockey drama “Heated Rivalry” are headed to the Olympics.
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie will be among the torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame for the Milan Cortina Games in February.
Williams plays Shane Hollander and Storrie plays Ilya Rozanov in the Crave-produced show. Williams is from Kelowna, B.C., and Storrie is American.
Hollander and Rozanov are two of the best hockey players in the world and rivals on the ice who struggle to contain their feelings for each other off it.
‘Heated Rivalry’ sparks conversation on identity, inclusion in sports
“Heated Rivalry” will start airing in Italy on Feb. 1 on HBO Max, which is also one of the official Olympic rights holders for the Milan Cortina Games. Viewers in Canada can continue to watch it on Crave.
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There are 16 more days left in the torch’s journey to the Olympic opening ceremony on Feb. 6.
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“Heated Rivalry” has already been renewed for a second season after its runaway success on streaming platforms in Canada and the United States.
The six-episode series is based on a gay hockey romance series called “Game Changers” by Rachel Reid. The screen adaptation was written by Jacob Tierney for Crave.
Tierney is the co-writer, director, and executive producer of the sitcom “Letterkenny” and an executive producer and director on the hockey comedy “Shoresy.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 22, 2026.
Which Canadian city can claim ‘Heated Rivalry’ star Conner Storrie?
Shane Hollander may have felt a little sheepish about hiring a stylist, but Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams appears to be much more at ease in high-fashion circles: After accessorizing his silky Armani dinner jacket with roughly four acres of sternum and Bvlgari jewelry at the Golden Globes 2026 last weekend, Williams made his runway debut in Milan on Friday, the very first official day of Milan Fashion Week.
Williams, who hails from British Columbia, took to the catwalk on behalf of Dsquared2, a line helmed by Canadian-born identical twin brothers Dean and Dan Caten and based out of Milan. The house frequently features celebrities in its runway presentations: In 2025, for the brand’s 30th anniversary celebration, Doechii opened the show, and Christina Aguilera, Brittany Murphy, and Naomi Campbell have all walked for them in the past. The Catens even designed wardrobes for Beyoncé’s 2016 Super Bowl halftime show and the Formation Tour, as well as Britney Spears’ 2009 Circus Tour, among other major celebrity collaborations.
Fans of Heated Rivalry, the steamy show that has the world’s social media algorithms in a (consensual) chokehold, are already in a seemingly permanent state of tizzy, but when a glimpse of a board featuring the headshots of the show’s models, Williams included, appeared in the background of an Instagram reel posted by the brand, the frenzy only increased. The sweat, she dripped.
Hudson Williams walks the runway at the Dsquared2 fashion show on January 16, 2026 in Milan, Italy.Daniele Venturelli
Appropriately enough, the set design for the show was a hockey-themed winter wonderland, featuring frosty white steps for the models’ entrances, and snow-tipped firs, as well as boards on either side of the runway printed with the Canadian flag’s signature maple leaf and bold red and blue “D2” emblems. Williams not only walked in the show, but led the charge by being first on the runway in the opening look. He wore coated denim jeans, tall winter boots with a red maple leaf detail, and a mixed-material top that appeared to be, like, six jackets all bonded into one rat-king superjacket.
The cure for winter blues? Some good old-fashioned screen time, and maybe living vicariously through film and TV characters stealing away to a cottage for a romantic interlude.
In the finale of Heated Rivalry, titled “The Cottage,” Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) tells Canadian fellow athlete Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), “I’m coming to the cottage,” referring to the lakefront home where Shane invites Ilya to spend the offseason with him. On the surprise-hit show about a secret romance between rival hockey pros, Shane’s cottage offers a sanctuary away from prying eyes, allowing Ilya and Shane to test the waters on bringing their decade-long secret relationship out of the shadows. Outside, the pressures and risks of publicly revealing their relationship loom. But inside, they are untouched by such concerns, and therefore free to be together.
Ilya isn’t the only one who accepted an invitation to the cottage. Heated Rivalry, produced by the virtually unknown Canadian streamer Crave and then licensed by HBO Max, where it premiered in late November with little promotion, has become the talk of the town. Celebrities from Pedro Pascal to Ayo Edebiri have expressed love for the series on social media. “You’re Ilya and I’m Shane,” Andy Cohen told Anderson Cooper as they celebrated New Year’s Eve together on CNN. When asked what she was watching in a recent Instagram video, Donatella Versacereplied, “Is that even a question? Take me to the cottage already.”
With no premiere date in sight for Heated Rivalry’s next installment, the fourth season of Bridgerton will offer audiences another cottage to visit when it arrives in two four-episode drops: the first on January 29, and the second on February 26. In the new season, Benedict Bridgerton (Luke Thompson) whisks Sophie (new cast member Yerin Ha) away to the Bridgerton family’s country estate, referred to as “my cottage,” after saving the maid from an assault by her new employer. Upon first seeing the palatial property, Sophie observes that “cottage feels somewhat…misleading.”
An already injured Benedict falls ill overnight, and Sophie nurses him back to health as they share the kind of intimate moments only afforded to them inside the confines of the cottage. When they return to polite society, with Benedict getting Sophie a job working for the Bridgerton family, they remain physically close but are emotionally distanced by social class. “I do miss our time in the countryside,” a uniformed Sophie opines.
Heated Rivalry is at the center of a bizarre transphobia controversy with Quinn. The Audio erotica had to quickly apologize for erroneously editing an interview.
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie Star in Heated Rivalry on HBO Max and Crave Up North. Quinn’s Ember & Ice audio drama also recruited the heartthrobs as voice actors for their latest smash hit. All of that is great but the app fell into some controversy this week when a social media interview from the stars was edited incorrectly.
Quinn donated $25,000 to Trans Lifeline after fans discovered the edited footage. Storrie and Williams were asked a question about why gay romance appeals to women viewers, readers and beyond. The star gave an accurate read about the rise of Heated Rivalry in front of the internet at large. But, Williams’ quote got snipped in a way that short changed trans women in the audience.
Williams pointed out, “There are straight women, there are trans women, there are gay women, like queer women” who have entered the massive tent of Heated Rivalry fandom. Being that the pool of fans is so wide, he didn’t feel comfortable narrowing it down to just one answer. Pretty astute from Williams right there. Unfortunately, the version of the interview shared from the Quinn account had the trans women part edited out. Naturally, Quinn leapt into action to help clarify their stance as it relates to part of their user base.
Quinn apologized for Heated Rivalry transphobic controversy
On Twitter they wrote, “Hi, We made a mistake. We understand why this edit was offensive and exclusionary, and we sincerely apologize. Our intention was to avoid conflating gender identity and sexual orientation, but removing that portion from the short-form interview was a mistake. We should have handled it differently.
“Over the years, we have consistently celebrated trans stories — we have trans members of our team and community who we see, value, and deeply appreciate, and we are committed to growing our catalogue of trans stories and creators.
“We appreciate this community for holding us accountable. It will not happen again. As a sign of solidarity with the trans community, we have made a $25,000 donation to Trans Lifeline,” the statement concludes.
Quinn quickly apologizes
Though the erotica app quickly clarified that “He was listing sexual orientations and we wanted to distinguish the two. We left in the full cut because we know it’s important to call out.” However, the damage was already done. Credit to them for acting quickly. But, it’s hard to blame certain users who suspect something strange going on there. Especially when Williams was talking about women as a whole and not just their sexual orientation.
Heated Rivalry remains massive on the Internet. Both Storrie and Williams have only seen their profiles grow as a result of being on the HBO and Crave smash-hit. However, it’s unfortunate that one of the parties that immediately gained a ton of great publicity for capitalizing on Heated Rivalry finds itself in this position. Hopefully, the editor and the app itself can do better in the future.
Teresia Gray (She/Her) is a writer here at the Mary Sue. She’s been writing professionally since 2016, but felt the allure of a TV screen for her entire upbringing. As a sponge for Cable Television debate shows and a survivor of “Peak Thinkpiece,” she has interests across the entire geek spectrum. Want to know why that politician you saw on TV said that thing, and why it matters? She’s got it for you. Yes, mainlining that much news probably isn’t healthy. Her work at the Mary Sue often includes political news, breaking stories, and general analysis of current events.
“Sinners is the story of brothers who start this really fun place for entertainment and then vampires show up, suck the life out of everybody and burn it all to the ground. Fun fact: The original name of the main vampire was David Zaslav,” she quipped, as the camera panned to star Michael B. Jordan, who could be seen ruefully shaking his head at the joke.
Touting the period drama’s near-$368 million worldwide box office gross, Handler called out a piece from our sister publication, which readers and celebrities alike slammed for minimizing the critically acclaimed film’s financial performance. “White Hollywood was so shook after seeing the box office numbers, Variety ran the headline: ‘Do box office numbers really matter?’”
In another biz-related joke, Handler went after the C-suite in general: “Seth Rogen is here tonight. Years of playing stoners, slackers and underachievers who do next to nothing all day prepared Seth for his latest role of someone who does even less — a studio head.”
The comic also went after One Battle After Another star DiCaprio, who just last night missed an appearance at the Palm Springs Film Festival (where he was set to accept a Desert Palm Achievement Award), due to travel restrictions. The Oscar winner was vacationing on a yacht off the coast of St. Barts at the time. “It was just like the Titanic but worse because Jeff Bezos was there,” Handler said.
Showering praise on the year’s original series, Handler gave a warm shoutout to one of most dominant shows in the zeitgeist: “You guys made amazing, original shows that everyone couldn’t stop talking about — until that gay hockey show from Canada came along,” she said. “Shoutout to Heated Rivalry; everyone loves it: Gay men love it, women love it, straight men who say they aren’t gay but work out at Equinox love it!”
In more TV-related material, Handler said: “The cast of Landman is here. Spoiler alert: In a recent episode, Billy Bob Thornton went full frontal. Taylor Sheridan said it was nice to have a dick on set that wasn’t Kevin Costner.”
“Actually, you’re the second nicest guy in Hollywood, because everyone in this room knows that the nicest guy in Hollywood was Rob Reiner,” she began. “Anyone who ever spent time with Rob Reiner knows that the minute you met him, he felt like an old friend. When you were in a conversation with him, he was present, he was focused and he was funny, and he would ask you tons of questions, whether you were discussing politics or film or the latest beauty trends — he was all in. After I sent him a text thanking him for dinner a few months ago, he texted me back and said, ‘We had so much fun with you last night. Thanks for explaining so much about plastic surgery. It was very edifying.’”
She concluded, “Rob and Michele were tireless in their efforts to so many important causes, all stemming from one basic idea: decency and that we should all look out for each other. I think we can all agree that we definitely need more of that. So, let’s use tonight as a reminder of that decency and as a reminder of everything Rob and Michele represented and fought so hard for.”
As Heated Rivalry is closely approaching the end of Season 1, Connor Storrie is still being humble about his fame.
The 25-year-old actor blossomed into fame with the Canadian gay hockey show with his co-star Hudson Williams, and he’s having fun while doing so. However, what comes with starring in a show that’s focused on the romance of two male hockey players is an onslaught of people speculating their real-life sexualities and partners.
To creator and director, Jacob Tierney, their sexualities did not matter while casting. “I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff,” he told Xtra Magazine. “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. 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. “
Who is Connor Storrie’s ex?
Connor Storrie hasn’t disclosed who he’s dating or his exes, and he will go to great lengths to protect his privacy. There have been rumors circulating on Reddit and TikTok about who he’s dated before, but it hasn’t been confirmed.
The actor told Vulture that he wants to protect his private life on behalf of himself and people who didn’t sign up to have all eyes on them. “This is the first time in my life I’m having this many eyes on me,” he told the site. “They’ve seen me naked, they’ve seen me kiss, they’ve seen me be in love with a man on screen — it’s only normal for people to try to transfer that over to mine and Hudson’s real life.”
“I feel honored to be able to bring someone to life that so many people feel seen, understood, and represented by, and I think that transcends whoever I’m sleeping with in my real life,” he continued.
In an earlier interview with Deadline, the actor emphasized that it’s important for him to “have a little bit of separation from the character in the show.”
“All I can really say is that I love Ilya, I love the community that this is a part of and that this caters to. I think that’s so much more interesting and valuable than doing just another run-of-the-mill, straight story,” he explained.
After DeuxMoi leaked the details of Hudson Williams’ alleged girlfriend, Hudson Williams commented on their Instagram page: “You know what, I’ve grown quite unfond of you deuxmoi.”
The two co-stars have gushed about their close friendship. They have matching tattoos, and Storrie recounted in the Vulture article that they lived next door to each other. “We would literally just go to set, go home, cook, work out together, and geek out over how excited we were to finally be working on this level,” he told the outlet. “If we were any less close, we probably would’ve gotten annoyed with each other really quick.”
SPOILER ALERT: This article contains details about Episode 6 of “Heated Rivalry,” now streaming on HBO Max.
“Heated Rivalry” has everything a primetime drama could ask for – very hot men, romance and, of course, sex. But what really sold star Hudson Williams on the series was the quiet yet heavy scene in the Season 1 finale that shows Shane’s mother (Christina Chang) asking her son for forgiveness for not allowing him to feel safe enough to come out to her sooner as gay.
“That scene was the scene that ruined me the most when I read the script,” Williams tells me. “It was the scene that I was like, ‘If I don’t get to play Shane Hollander.’ It’s also a scene that’s not in the book, but to me it is the quintessential wrap-up scene to that arc for him and his mom. Period.”
For those who may not already know, “Heated Rivalry” is Jacob Tierney’s six-episode adaptation of Rachel Reid’s queer hockey romance novel series “Game Changers.” The show, acquired for U.S. distribution by HBO Max from Canadian streamer Crave, follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rosanov (Connor Storrie), two superstar hockey players who fall in love as they navigate a secret years-long affair. The show has been greenlit for a second season.
The mother-and-son scene filmed over two days. “The first time we couldn’t get through it because it started raining,” Hudson recalls. “And then we came back the next day to shoot it, Jacob goes, ‘I rewrote it.’ So Christina and I are in the little makeup room of this little cottage, memorizing the scene, and it was so beautiful. It made so much sense. It stands on the right side of what I think a parent should be because there are outdated notions. There are old school ways of parenting that maybe we can leave in the past…As someone who thinks of raising their kids in the future and wanting to be a father, this is the environment you have to foster.”
We truly don’t know until we see her accept him if she is going to accept him or reject him. Will she be like, “You’ve just ruined your career?” But in the end, she’s talking about how this could be good for endorsement deals.
Shane gets a release to a degree, but I’m not sure it’s a full one. I think there’s still a degree to Shane where it’s like, a part of me wanted a bigger release. I remember leaving and going, “I wish I could pour myself into it and completely get vulnerable.” As an actor, that’s never really been that hard for me. I was retroactively trying to figure out why am I not fully able to get this. But then, I was like, “Oh, it’s Shane who isn’t able to get that fully.” It’s a little bit of a release he gets but even still, he’s avoiding her a little bit. He can’t look her in the eyes and feel completely like he’s lived to all the standards of what he thinks this unwritten idea of what a man is between them.
I love that Ilya was the first to say, “I love you.” He said it in the Russian monologue, but that doesn’t count for Shane because he didn’t know what Ilya was saying.
The motherfucker beat me.
Were you surprised he said it first?
Yeah, but even though Shane doesn’t say it first, he says all these things that are, if they’re not love, what the fuck are they? You know, “Let’s start a foundation.” He’s staying up in the middle of the night plotting their way. When Ilya says, “You think that far ahead, Hollander?” “I do about this.” Hollander is not a planner. He’s a diligent worker. He’s someone who is routine — dial in, show up in the game today, show up in practice right now. Forget in five years. Be the best hockey player now. It’s out of character to let this game plan run so far ahead. But it is because he loves Ilya so dearly. So I think he, even though he didn’t say it first, he made that cottage a home for Ilya to be able to say it.
I thought the cottage was going to be, excuse my French, a fuck fest. But this was more about the emotional journey and being a couple.
Jacob Tierney recently said it — it’s boyfriend.
But then there’s the blowjob scene. That was comedy.
That was improv.
What?
Yeah, to a degree. Connor and I were kind of goofing off in the makeup trailer, which was a cottage that was a two-minute drive away from that cottage, getting ready. I was preparing my monologue the whole morning. I’m prepping it, working it. Then Connor, being the great scene partner he is, he was like, “I’ll be here doing this.” Then he did something and we were hitting each other, goofing off. Then he’s hitting me, hitting me and he did this slap. I was filming myself on my phone doing this. I was like, “Do that again.” I couldn’t hold in my laughter because it was so brilliant. It’s so funny, and it makes sense for where they’re at in the story. I remember showing that to the intimacy coordinator. She was cackling. She’s like, “You have to do that.” Then Jacob was like, “Go for it. Go crazy.” The first take was the first time I broke broke because Connor is taking all the liberties. I am shoving him. I’m slapping him back. I’m putting the phone away to get in the gasps and moans. I’m so happy with how that scene turned out.
Shane and Ilya are finally comfortable with each other enough for that. They’ve let their guards down.
I heard Jacob say earlier today, “That’s boyfriends.” You don’t get the blow job on the phone from your fuck buddy or your friends with benefits. You get that when you’re in a relationship. In Episodes 1 and 2, it’s lust — it’s charged and fast. But now we have humor and levity within the sex.
What was it like filming in the cottage for the first time?
It’s when sentiment of the show really matched the sentiment of where we are in filming. That was the last two days of shooting. The last scene we shot was Ilya talking about his mom when he’s on my lap. I remember the first time we walked through there, I was like, “Damn right, Mr. Real Estate! This is a pretty nice cottage.” That was finally where Shane can be as boring as he wants and as fun as he wants. He gets to be everything. They have those two weeks.
And then you literally ride off into the sunset.
It’s still bittersweet. A lot of people have said that’s a very happy ending, but I’m like, “This isn’t a straight story.” This is not the happy ending because they’re still in the closet. They’re not coming out to Reebok, they’re not coming out to anyone. They got caught. It looks more like forgiveness than pride. That’s where they’re at. Forgiveness implies there’s something that was wrongfully done.
There’s shame around being caught. Just the word “caught” implies something to be ashamed about.
And they were just kissing. They’re not fucking butt naked on the countertop.
Do you have any plans to leave the internet?
I have been periodically leaving the internet. I touch into the internet. I try to stay gone, but very luckily, it’s been pretty warm. The hateful comments are easy to disregard to a degree because they’re coming from such vile places of bias or they’re just obnoxious. It’s closer to trolling than it is criticism.
Also, “Heated Rivalry” is not reality. It’s like a good rom-com where we get to fantasize about love and romance.
It’s optimistic.
It’s OK to be optimistic. So many people just want to be negative.
Even queer storytellers sometimes want to double down on pessimism. I think the reason why our show is doing so well is it doesn’t want to reinforce the worst fears.
Do you like tuna melts?
I do, but I don’t eat carbs or cheese. But as a treat, I’ll take a tuna melt with a nice brioche.
The gay hockey show that has taken over the world has come to an end. For season 1 at least. Heated Rivalry gave us a thrilling season finale that left us wondering what will happen for Shane and Ilya in the future.
Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) invited Ilya (Connor Storrie) to his cottage in the penultimate episode. Ilya did what he does best and made a thing about it, saying it couldn’t happen. But when Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) kissed his boyfriend after the Stanely Cup, it inspired Ilya to make a move: Go to the cottage with Shane.
And that’s where we are at the finale for Heated Rivalry. So what happens in the finale to set up season 2? Spoilers ahead for the hockey show. Well… there isn’t much hockey in this episode. Just lots of smooching.
Shane meets Ilya at the airport to bring him to his cottage and the two are set to have 2 weeks together. It is exactly as fans predicted: Lots of sex. But also lots of conversations about the future, including a plan for Ilya to move to Canada and get rid of his Russian Passport that doesn’t include marrying his friend. The problem? Shane’s parents see them together.
Support was always there, if Shane wanted it
(HBO Max)
Yuna Hollander (Christina Chang) has been hard on her son all season. She’s been determined to see him succeed but she didn’t seem uncaring. The same went for David Hollander (Dylan Walsh). So when David goes to the cottage to get his phone charger and sees Ilya and Shane together, there was a moment of panic for Shane. Would his parents accept him? How would they feel about their son being gay? But the only thing they were worried about? Shane and Ilya’s supposed rivalry on the ice.
The final moments of the season featured both Ilya and Shane hopeful for their future together. They have a plan, they have a mission, and now Shane knows his parents are on his side. One of the most beautiful moments of the episode, however, comes from his mother hearing their “ideas” for how to keep their relationship a secret.
When she hears that the two are planning to keep it a secret until they retire, she says that it is sad that they’d have to do that. Especially with their plan to explain why they’d be seen together out and about. We don’t know whether or not that’s going to actually be how it plays out (or of Scott Hunter inspires them more).
But for now, the future actually seems hopeful for the two. They’re happy together, people know about them, and Ilya even called himself Shane’s boyfriend. Will their happiness remain? Or is this just the honeymoon period until someone calls their bluff on the ice? We’ll have to wait until season 2 to find out where Shane and Ilya go next but at least we’ll always have the cottage together.
Rachel Leishman (She/Her) is the Editor in Chief of the Mary Sue. She’s been a writer professionally since 2016 but was always obsessed with movies and television and writing about them growing up. A lover of Spider-Man and Wanda Maximoff’s biggest defender, she has interests in all things nerdy and a cat named Benjamin Wyatt the cat. If you want to talk classic rock music or all things Harrison Ford, she’s your girl but her interests span far and wide. Yes, she knows she looks like Florence Pugh. She has multiple podcasts, normally has opinions on any bit of pop culture, and can tell you can actors entire filmography off the top of her head. Her current obsession is Glen Powell’s dog, Brisket.
Her work at the Mary Sue often includes Star Wars, Marvel, DC, movie reviews, and interviews.
SPOILERS: This post contains details about the Heated Rivalry, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’
With the conclusion of Heated Rivalry‘s rookie season, writer/director/creator Jacob Tierney is taking a breath before hitting the ice again with the wildly popular LGBTQ hockey drama series.
Ahead of the highly anticipated Season 1 finale ‘The Cottage’, which is now available to stream on Crave and HBO Max, Tierney teased that despite the satisfying closure of the episode, Season 2 and beyond “will always be centered around” Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov’s (Connor Storrie) love story, with author Rachel Reid’s final book in the series, The Long Game, serving as the basis.
“But we have a whole universe here, and so there’s loads of other things that we’re thinking about and that we’re gonna explore and that we’re gonna start to take more seriously now that we know that there’s an audience for it,” explained Tierney, following the show’s Season 2 renewal. “And that’s pretty exciting, so I’m looking forward to really digging into this world.”
Taking LGBTQ and female audiences by storm with its bold depictions of gay sex and romance, Tierney revealed that his favorite intimate scenes were in the finale.
“What I was committed to was making sure that we watch this relationship evolve through the sex, because it’s one thing to just make smut—which I’m thrilled to be doing. No shame in that game,” he said. “But it would be numbing and boring to watch the same f*ck scene over and over again. Who cares at a certain point? We are certainly not starved for sex, as viewers.”
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in the ‘Heated Rivalry’, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’
Tierney added, “That’s why I love the sex in episode 6 so much, because it’s both incredibly sweet and then incredibly playful and funny. And I like those two juxtapositions. That’s when I feel like they’re a real couple, like when you’re giving somebody a blowjob to annoy them. That’s what a boyfriend does.”
Read on about the Heated Rivalry, Season 1 finale’s sex scenes, why the show’s depiction of LGBTQ fame appealed to him and what’s ahead for Season 2.
DEADLINE: Are you surprised that the show has taken off on this level, outside of Canada?
JACOB TIERNEY: No, this is exactly what I expected—yes, I’m very surprised. We’re all a bit overwhelmed by the reaction to the show. Obviously, it’s very gratifying and it’s very nice, but it’s certainly not anything you can expect, and then coupled with, plan for anything like that. It’s crazy.
DEADLINE: And it was awesome seeing the fan reaction to the Scott [François Arnaud] and Kip [Robbie GK] kiss in the last episode. It was such a good wrap-up for that episode.
TIERNEY: It was very moving to see all those reactions. It was very, very moving for me.
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in the ‘Heated Rivalry’, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’ (Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max)
DEADLINE: And now, all of the gays and the girls are super excited for ‘The Cottage’.
TIERNEY: I’m telling you, no Canadian’s that excited.
DEADLINE: Was the pressure on to bring that part of the book to life? Because I’ve seen a lot of people are really anticipating it.
TIERNEY: I mean, I made the show. I didn’t think anybody was gonna care this much. I’m relieved that I made it the way that I did. I mean, there was pressure for me internally to end the show well. And I think that the thing that I was aware of, though it might not seem that way on the surface, it’s a big swing cause it’s a two-hander essentially. To go from an episode like 5, which is so big and epic, into ‘The Cottage’, which is relatively tiny—I think 38 of the 52 minutes are the two of them alone in a cottage. That’s kind of a big structural and narrative swing to pull off, or to attempt, I suppose. But I just wanted to continue to do right by this relationship, these characters, and to give their journey the kind of last push that I thought it needed to successfully finish the book.
DEADLINE: And I really appreciated the scene with Shane’s parents because coming out was obviously such a big fear for him, and just seeing how perfectly they handled it. Tell me about bringing something that gay kids really need to see to the screen like that.
TIERNEY: Yeah, it’s a big part of the book, so I certainly didn’t invent it whole cloth. But yeah, that stuff is very important, and it’s always been an interesting distinction between Shane and Ilya. And I think it’s quite stark when Ilya—it’s a small line that he says in episode 5, but he says that about his father, “I wish he could have known me.” And I think that’s what he means, and I think that Ilya’s very aware. Part of the reason that he’s kind of gently probing Shane in that episode and being like, “Do they know about you?” And he’s like, “No, about you. Who f*cking cares about me? Do they know you? If they don’t, you’ll regret it at a certain point. You need to take this leap.” And it’s scary as those of us who’ve come out to parents [know], which is most gay kids at this point, or queer people in general. It’s very scary and it’s a big deal, but it’s something that’s pretty important in that journey. And what was important to me throughout the show was to make sure that we had sophisticated and complicated relationships with parents going on here. It was why it was so important for me to keep Skip’s dad in the show, to see somebody be supportive like that, to see somebody whose love cup is endless. And I think that to see Yuna [Shane’s mom, played by Christina Chang] is such an important part of this show, and she’s such an important part moving forward, especially. And I think that in these moments, you see that her and Shane are so similar, and they have very similar limitations, and that it was really important to me for the two of them to have a moment together beyond what was already in the book and what was already in the story. It felt very important to me that these two have—I don’t think it’s a reckoning, but that they have their own moment of intimacy where they can clear things up for one another. Because I think they’re both the kinds of people that build things up in their heads, and when you say things out loud, I think you can kind of take the air out of them, and it suddenly becomes a lot more manageable than whatever you’ve created in your brain. And it helps to have two very, very good actors there to do the heavy lifting for me.
Christina Chang as Yuna and Dylan Walsh as David Hollander in the ‘Heated Rivalry’ Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’ (Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max)
DEADLINE: And one thing that’s really tragic, even though it was such a great finale, just the fact that Shane wants to just keep their relationship a secret until they retire. And it kind of struck me how it’s almost like art imitating life, or vice-versa, with the pressure and speculation that the actors are facing. Was that exploration of fame in the back of your head when you were making this?
TIERNEY: I mean, I’ve been an actor my whole life. I know what that’s like. I’ve known loads of actors in the closet. I’ve known loads of actors who have come out. And I do think that part of the reason that this story appealed to me is because I can relate to it. I can understand that pressure, especially when you come up at a young enough age that you don’t know, that you don’t know what an answer to a question like that would be, but you certainly live in a world where you got a lot of people telling you not to talk about it, and that if you want the things you want, you’ll kind of keep toe-ing a line. And I think that’s also part of what makes the story resonate with so many people is that we’re not pretending we live in a world without homophobia, and we’re not pretending we live in a world where coming out is easy. I think that’s part of the beauty of what Scott does is so brave, and it’s so big, and it does crack something open for other people, but I think what it cracks open for them is just allowing them to know that they are allowed to be together. The rest of it, they can figure out at a later date—and the fans of the book know how this is gonna go—but I think that part of what is interesting and different and unique about Shane and Ilya’s story is that this journey that we’re watching them go on in this first book, in this first season of TV now, is a journey to just understanding that they love each other. And that’s such a hurdle for them. That’s hard enough for them, that to then add in the rest of the world, I think will take a whole other season of television. So, that’s kind of part of the journey that will be explored down the road. But I have a lot of empathy and I have a lot of time for Shane’s journey with that stuff. It’s not easy. It’s hard, and I do think that there’s actors, a lot of professionals, especially people who begin their professional journey at 12 years old. There’s so much baked in, and there’s so much built in around you that you can often lose yourself. I think it’s quite easy to do that, and again, I’ve seen it happen with so many actors that I came up with.
DEADLINE: Speaking of which, I just recently discovered that you were in Are You Afraid of the Dark?, which was such a big part of my childhood.
TIERNEY: I am a campfire kid forever.
DEADLINE: I love that. Were there moments on Heated Rivalry where you had to compromise your vision or the story?
TIERNEY: Sure, there were moments along the way … my execs at Crave were so f*cking amazing about that. There were people along the way. But my execs, they didn’t want it toned down at all.
Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in the ‘Heated Rivalry’, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’
DEADLINE: Well, it’s great to see such a fearlessly queer show, especially when GLAAD recently released their study that almost half of LGBTQ characters are disappearing. So, it just feels very needed right now, and I love it.
TIERNEY: We added a bunch, so at least there’s that. It’s not a great time for stuff like that, and I think, unfortunately, the more there’s consolidation among broadcasters and streamers too, it’s not gonna get a lot better, I don’t think. But it is nice to be a part of a show that is doing something like this, that’s reminding people that there’s loads of audiences here and that they can be queer and queer adjacent, our allies, our friends, our families. If this was just gay people watching this show, we wouldn’t be talking about it right now, let’s be real. So, the fact that it’s gotten to this level of conversation in the culture is because there are people that want to watch this, and they don’t care if it’s two men in a love story, or maybe even want that specifically. And then even more so, it’s just such a pleasure to be involved in a show that’s making people happy and that is providing joy. I still read people being like, “I know that this show is gonna end on a cliffhanger.” And I keep wanting to shout it from the rooftops, “It won’t! I don’t want to do that to you, that’s not what we’re doing here.”
DEADLINE: Honestly, I had that thought too, watching it. It’s such a good ending, and then they get in the car. I’m like, “Oh, they’re about to get into a car accident or something. I just know it.”
TIERNEY: You know what’s really funny, is that if I let that footage just run and run and run, because we shot that in the studio, my producing partner Brendan [Brady] will run out in front of that car and get hit by it. So you will see our straight producer dying. Does that help? Is that the secret twist that nobody saw coming?
DEADLINE: That’s the one we want.
TIERNEY: There you go. That’s it.
DEADLINE: Another thing I thought was funny, I’m reading a lot of the social media reactions, and you’ve introduced a lot of viewers to frottage.
TIERNEY: Frottage at the cottage, baby!
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in the ‘Heated Rivalry’, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’
DEADLINE: Yeah, exactly. So that’s cool, it’s really opening a lot of eyes to queer sex. And I’ve also seen some people talk about how very accurate the sex scenes are to the book, and I’m wondering if you were very committed to maintaining accuracy to those scenes.
TIERNEY: Some of them are super accurate to, or close to the book, and some of them go different ways. But what I would say I was committed to, that Rachel and I are both committed to, was kind of using this sex to tell their story, that this is not separate from their story. The sex isn’t like, “And then they fuck! Let’s put it in a new room or do it on a kitchen counter.” Their sex is the way that they understand each other, and it’s the way that we understand them as a couple. So, what I was committed to was making sure that we watch this relationship evolve through the sex, because it’s one thing to just make smut—which I’m thrilled to be doing. No shame in that game. But it would be numbing and boring to watch the same f*ck scene over and over again. Who cares at a certain point? We are certainly not starved for sex, as viewers. You can go watch sex wherever you want to. So, what would have to keep this interesting, is to watch it evolve and to watch their intimacy change. That’s why I love the sex in episode 6 so much, because it’s both incredibly sweet and then incredibly playful and funny. And I like those two juxtapositions. That’s when I feel like they’re a real couple, like when you’re giving somebody a blowjob to annoy them. That’s what a boyfriend does. That’s annoying. That’s great. That’s what I want to see.
DEADLINE: Another thing I loved, as great as the sex scenes are, I noticed that episode 5, there’s not as many sex scene.
TIERNEY: There’s none.
DEADLINE: But there’s a lot of more emotional intimacy, and it made it feel so earned and real. Like when Ilya tells Shane “I love you” in Russian.
TIERNEY: I think that’s part of the evolution too, it’s a story. It was really important to me that you have to earn these moments. That’s why episode 3 is where it is, and that’s why 5 ends the way it does. This stuff, it has to imprint on you, and then, you get that those big feelings like that. And I don’t think you get those big feelings that you get in 5 if you haven’t sat through how painful 4 was for them, or the ending of 2, where you’re like, “Oh God, will these two ever f*cking learn to talk to each other?” And then when they do in 5, it’s in two different languages. I think that’s also part of what’s amazing when romance works, that you’re just endlessly watching two people bypass each other. When they hit, you’re like, “No, wait! It’s not that.” And that aching. Yeah, it’s been so fun to see people react to that.
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in the ‘Heated Rivalry’, Season 1 finale episode ‘The Cottage’
DEADLINE: Where are you at with Season 2, or are you just kind of letting it ruminate?
TIERNEY: It’s all gonna be underwater. It takes place in the lost city of Atlantis—no, listen, Season 2 will be based around The Long Game. I don’t have details. I have not started writing, so I’m not just trying to be evasive. I genuinely don’t know yet. I’m so lucky to have a whole world of books here to grab things from, to use, to add color, to add context, to add story. I can tell you I’m really excited to get back to writing. I’m excited to get back into this world with them, and I’m looking forward to it. I guess, here’s what I can say too, is that Heated Rivalry will always be centered around Shane and Ilya, this show. But we have a whole universe here, and so there’s loads of other things that we’re thinking about and that we’re gonna explore and that we’re gonna start to take more seriously now that we know that there’s an audience for it. And that’s pretty exciting, so I’m looking forward to really digging into this world.
SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from “The Cottage,” the Season 1 finale of “Heated Rivalry,” now streaming on HBO Max.
“Heated Rivalry” finally took its hockey lover boys to the cottage, and everything has changed.
In the Season 1 finale of HBO Max’s smash-hit romance, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rosanov (Connor Storrie) settled in for two weeks at Shane’s remote cottage, and immediately made a pact. For the first time in their more-than-a-decade-long history, they would use their uninterrupted alone time to tell each other the truth about how they feel. No more burying their emotions or expressing them in a language the other can’t understand –– no matter how beautiful Ilya’s Russian revelation was in Episode 5.
It didn’t take long for them to make good on that promise. Ilya teased Shane about maybe marrying his best friend, Svetlana (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova), or another woman so as not to blow their cover. But then he admitted he had a problem –– none of those women were Shane. Shane, in turn, pulled an all-nighter churning out a plan for them to slowly ease the world into the idea of their relationship, starting with Ilya joining the Ottawa team to be closer to him in Montreal, and then they would co-found a charity to start melting the supposedly frigid animosity between them. It was a long-game plan, but the mere mental gymnastics of trying to set up their future together moved Ilya to tears, and left him coughing up those three words–– “I love you.” Shane immediately reciprocated it with lightning-fast urgency, obliterating one of the last barriers between them.
Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, Dylan Walsh and Christina Chang
Courtesy of Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max
From there, the tenor of their cottage getaway changed, and ultimately felt more romantic than ever. That is, until Shane’s dad, David (Dylan Walsh), walked in on them kissing and fled before his son could explain. Shane had put off telling his parents about being gay or loving his archrival. But now, Shane and Ilya both went to see David and Yuna (Christina Chang) to break the news. It was a tough pill to swallow, but not because they don’t approve of their son. Rather, it completely shatters his hockey-loving parents’ 10-year-plus belief they hated each other. Instead, they finally see two young men, who have been crazy about each other since rookie year (or rather, the summer before!), now sitting at the Hollanders’ dinner table as a couple.Ilya even comforts Shane in a moment of panic by calling him his boyfriend, a simple but monumental step for Hollanov, as the internet has dubbed them.
Season 1 ends as the boys drive back to their refuge away from the world, staring down a beautiful sunset that hides everything that waits on the other side of their cottage chapter, which will play out in an already-ordered Season 2. That’s a little different from the conclusion of Rachel Reid’s book, on which the series is based, in which they launch their foundation to lay the groundwork for the future. However, series creator/writer/director Jacob Tierney wanted something more romantic for his final shot, just in case the series didn’t become the phenomenon that it has.
“I wanted to leave the viewer with what the book left me with emotionally, which was the warm, fuzzy feeling of them getting to be happy together,” Tierney tells Variety. “I thought of doing something with just a bit of elegance, and there’s a simplicity to the two of them in a car, driving off into the sunset, and not over a cliff. That was all I ever wanted out of this story.”
Below, Tierney tells Variety about how he pulled the much-anticipated cottage episode together; whether fan-favorite couple Scott (François Arnaud) and Kip (Robbie GK) will play a bigger role in Season 2 — and why he thinks women have gravitated toward this unabashedly queer love story between two men.
There are some things that happen at the cottage in Rachel Reid’s book that aren’t here in the finale. Shane and Illya playing against each other in Shane’s hockey training facility, and a pretty explosive oral sex scene that could have been an homage to the beginning of “Queer As Folk.” How did you figure out what would make the cut for your version for this chapter for Shane and Ilya?
I wanted to make sure we were still on the same journey with them, and still learning things about them. If we are talking specifically about the sex scenes in the book, they’d eaten ass in Episode 2, so I didn’t really feel like I needed to hit that hard here. I wanted to make sure that we were still watching this change and evolve for them, and the sex that we were seeing this time around was more intimate, playful and sweet. And as evolved as it could be, particularly from the stuff that we were seeing in Episodes 1 and 2. Ultimately, the stuff that mattered to me at the cottage was the stuff that continued the journey of understanding them and their relationship. There was no set agenda. It ended up being the stuff I remember from reading it, if I’m being honest.
5
Courtesy of Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max
By the end of the episode, they have learned to better communicate with each other. Not perfectly, but previously sex was their only means of doing that. Does that mean you envision less sex in Season 2, and more sitting on the couch scrolling their phones and touching toes now that they can use their words more efficiently?
Oh, the touching toes! I love that scene. You know, Rachel talks a lot about the promise that I made to her to take her characters seriously. She takes them very seriously in “The Long Game,” and that doesn’t mean there’s no sex. There’s quite a bit of sex in “The Long Game.” But I think it functions differently in the second book, and that’s just what I want to do. The journey of this show, no matter how long it goes on for, will always be centered around the relationship between Shane and Ilya. Sex will always be a big part of it, like it is with any romantic relationship. But it’s really about continuing that progress of what happens after that first blush of love, what happens after you decide you’re in love and how do you sustain it? That’s a very adult question: “We love each other, and now what? Does that mean everything’s easy?” No, it does not. There’s loads of challenges that get thrown Shane and Ilya’s way. Beyond what’s in the books, I really don’t have an agenda besides that I love this couple and I love these characters, and I want to just hang out with them more and watch them grow more and watch them become better for each other.
Since you loved the touching toes scene, was that something you planned ahead of time or was it a choice you and Hudson and Connor made in the moment while filming?
No, that was planned. What I really wanted to be part of the cottage episode was that, when you’re in a relationship, you’re just doing things like being on your phones at the same time. I want them to live in the real world, and to do those little things that people do when they are in a relationship, because Shane and Ilya are. They can’t always be fucking. God knows, that’s just exhausting! I just wanted to capture little normal couple moments and I don’t think I’m the only one in a relationship who occasionally sits on a couch scrolling on our phones separately and then showing our partner what we are seeing.
It certainly shows how far they have come since their fleeting hotel meetups. But there is still a little bit of Reid’s book that you don’t cover in the finale. In the book, months later they announce Shane’s big plan to start a foundation together, the first step in chipping away at their rivalry until they can come out as a couple. But your season ends with them riding home from Shane’s parents’ house in the car, just holding hands and laughing. Do you see Season 2 starting with that announcement, or was this your end to the first book?
Well, books are so different from TV and I didn’t know if I was even going to get to make more of these. As much as I care about their charity and what they’re going to do, I don’t know that we need a bunch of exposition at the end of a season of TV like this. I wanted to leave the viewer with what the book left me with emotionally, which was the kind of warm, fuzzy feeling of them getting to be happy together. I thought of doing something with just a bit of elegance, and there’s a simplicity to the two of them in a car, driving off into the sunset, and not over a cliff. That was all I ever wanted out of this story.
Part of the balancing act of the storytelling for me was always that you get this big moment with Scott and Kip in the last episode. It is this massive rom-com public declaration of love, and what I love about Shane and Ilya’s story is that you get another version of that kind of happiness, which is this small moment with the two of them just being allowed to be in love. That was the sweetest ending I could come up with for them, for now.
Speaking of Scott and Kip, there has been such an enthusiasm for them, maybe more than some people expected. Last week’s episode, which ended on Scott bringing Kip out on the ice to announce their relationship, now shares the top spot on IMDb’s list of the highest-rated episodes of television of all time. Does that encourage you to include more of their story in Season 2, or do you foresee keeping this format of seeing them when they intersect with Shane and Ilya?
This will continue to be Shane and Ilya’s story, and Scott and Kip will continue to intersect with them on occasion. But just because “Heated Rivalry” is Shane and Ilya’s story doesn’t mean that precludes potentially doing stuff with Scott and Kip outside of that specific show. We optioned all Rachel’s books, and part of the reason we did that was because, obviously, these characters appear throughout all the books. There’s a real richness to a lot of the stories there, and fans will know that Scott and Kip feature very strongly in “Common Goal.” They are all over the place. I don’t know exactly what we’re going to do yet, but there are places we could go with them that I would definitely be excited to explore.
Courtesy of Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max
In the finale, we get a scene with Shane and his mom, Yuna, after he comes out. This is a bit of a change from the book, where the conversation is entirely between Shane, Ilya, Yuna and David. Why did you give Shane and his mom this separate moment?
Yuna is such a crucial character in the story. I know it’s not always on display in this season, but as fans of the books know, Yuna is such a big part of both Shane and Ilya’s lives moving forward. In trying to take this stuff seriously, I wanted to show complicated, interesting adult relationships here, and that includes the parents. It was just really important to me for Shane and Yuna to have a conversation. They needed to have a moment together. They’re obviously very close. They’re obviously very similar, and his mom has very similar blinders that he does. So there’s something really important about reminding people that even though we can hurt each other in these relationships, and they can be difficult, there is love and allyship there as well. Sometimes, it just requires a little conversation.
The queer community is understandably hooked by this show, but there has also been an intense embrace from female viewers, specifically straight women. Why do you think that is?
I think that’s a very complicated question, and there are a lot of answers to it. Women love these books. These are books written by a woman. These are books largely consumed by women. So I wouldn’t want to speak on behalf of a female audience, but I think that what women are presented in romance is not always something that interests them in that way. I think that women are also, in real life and in culture, endlessly exposed to sexual violence. Seeing things like this, that are depictions ultimately of male vulnerability, can be very refreshing. From what I’ve heard, from the women who have written to me and Rachel and the boys, there’s a safety in seeing a woman being removed from the conversation. So you’re watching something happen between two men, and there is no fear of violence. There is no fear of things turning into stuff that women have to deal with too much in real life, and don’t want to deal with in their fantasies, and ultimately, this is a romantic fantasy. I think it’s also that maybe romance — which is a genre that women love and write and read and are the primary consumers of — just doesn’t get treated with a lot of respect. Nor do the people that make it, or those that adapt it either. So I think that they are responding to, at least I hope, the fact that we came to it pretty fullhearted, and as fans and as people who want to honor this material and want to honor the genre and make it as romantic as we can. That’s certainly what I wanted to do.
Every week, despite the soaring success of your show, you have had to respond to controversies and people wanting to tear it down. This week, Hudson responded to Deuxmoi’s comments about his personal life, and who he might be dating. But Deuxmoi also said the show has no plot and bad acting. What do you say to opinions like that?
This show wouldn’t work if any of that were true. I mean, it just wouldn’t. Nobody would give a shit about this if the acting was bad, or if there was no story. I think this is a show that actually requires you to pay attention. If you’re glib and you’re on your phone the whole time, or you’re looking to not pay attention, then God bless, and do whatever you want. But you have to be there in the moment if you want to watch. This is a show where there’s a lot of communication between the lines. It’s a lot about behavior. It’s a lot about watching. And if you don’t have the attention span for it or the interest, then I’m gonna be super honest with you. I could give a fuck what Deuxmoi’s criticism is of the show. I literally don’t even know who these people are. I don’t give a fuck what they think about anything. But I understand that, from what I have read multiple times now, people say this is a show that is not a co-viewing experience. You can’t be on your phone. If you wanna get what it’s doing, you have to pay attention to it. It’s definitely made to hold your attention. And if it doesn’t, then that’s a good criticism too. This is not for everybody, and that is A-OK. But I think at a certain point, the show speaks for itself, and the reaction to it speaks for itself, and there’s no way that these boys would be on the receiving end of the attention that they’re getting if they weren’t good. The papa bear in me does not like comments like this, obviously, because I know how hard they work. I think they’re fucking amazing. But we also live in a time where everybody gets their opinion, then they get to put it out on whatever platform they have, and so I get it. Keep doing your thing, Deuxmoi!
There’s so many new characters that are going to be really fun to bring in. But I think that next season will end up feeling different because it’s a more focused book. It takes place over a shorter amount of time. There’s more a sense of getting to know that team in Ottawa that Ilya is going to play for and getting to know Hayden and Jackie more. And there’s more Yuna and David. Hopefully what will happen, like with any good second season in general, is that we will get to enrich the stuff you already know and how those threads began, and then pull on them and really get into it. But I’m also really looking forward to seeing Ilya in therapy. It’s probably a really good thing for him. I know that my therapist has been crucial to getting through the past few months.
As Heated Rivalry is closely approaching the end of Season 1, Connor Storrie is still being humble about his fame.
The 25-year-old actor blossomed into fame with the Canadian gay hockey show with his co-star Hudson Williams, and he’s having fun while doing so. However, what comes with starring in a show that’s focused on the romance of two male hockey players is an onslaught of people speculating their real-life sexualities and partners.
To creator and director, Jacob Tierney, their sexualities did not matter while casting. “I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff,” he told Xtra Magazine. “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. 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. “
Who is Connor Storrie dating in real life?
Connor Storrie hasn’t disclosed who he’s dating, and he will go to great lengths to protect his privacy. The actor told Vulture that he wants to protect his private life on behalf of himself and people who didn’t sign up to have all eyes on them. “This is the first time in my life I’m having this many eyes on me,” he told the site. “They’ve seen me naked, they’ve seen me kiss, they’ve seen me be in love with a man on screen — it’s only normal for people to try to transfer that over to mine and Hudson’s real life.”
“I feel honored to be able to bring someone to life that so many people feel seen, understood, and represented by, and I think that transcends whoever I’m sleeping with in my real life,” he continued.
In an earlier interview with Deadline, the actor emphasized that it’s important for him to “have a little bit of separation from the character in the show.”
“All I can really say is that I love Ilya, I love the community that this is a part of and that this caters to. I think that’s so much more interesting and valuable than doing just another run-of-the-mill, straight story,” he explained.
After DeuxMoi leaked the details of Hudson Williams’ alleged girlfriend, Hudson Williams commented on their Instagram page: “You know what, I’ve grown quite unfond of you deuxmoi.”
The two co-stars have gushed about their close friendship. They have matching tattoos and Storrie recounted in the Vulture article that they lived next door to each other. We would literally just go to set, go home, cook, work out together, and geek out over how excited we were to finally be working on this level,” he told the outlet. “If we were any less close, we probably would’ve gotten annoyed with each other really quick.”
Heated Rivalry has become the internet’s latest obsession, with its steamy and smutty storyline about two hockey players who are locked in a forbidden romance.
The Canadian TV series stars Connor Storie as Ilya Rozanov, a Russian American player for the Boston Raiders, and Hudson Williams as Canadian-born Shane Hollander of the fictitious Montreal Metros. The show is adapted from Rachel Reid’s novel of the same name, and it has no shortage of bittersweet romance and sex scenes—some fans also say that it’s a pretty faithful adaptation in terms of sex content.
“What I loved about [the story] and why I did ultimately think it was adaptable is because sex is the language of their love,” creator Jacob Tierney told The Hollywood Reporter. “Sex is how you tell the story because their sex changes as they get to know each other, as they get to know themselves.”
Are Connor Storrie & Hudson Williams Gay?
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams haven’t said anything about their own sexualities publicly. However, creator Jacob Tierney answered a question in Xtra Magazine about casting queer actors for queer characters, and the actors blending their personal lives with their professional.
“I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff,” he told the outlet. “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. 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. “
“Who I date, who I sleep with, who this, that, whatever, I’m gonna keep that to myself,” Storrie said. “All I can really say is that I love Ilya, I love the community that this is a part of and that this caters to. I think that’s so much more interesting and valuable than doing just another run-of-the-mill, straight story.”
The two actors gushed about their instant chemistry with each other during the audition process. “Hudson was the third actor that I read with,” Storrie told Out Magazine. “The first two, I was like, ‘OK, this is cool,’ and then Hudson came on. Jacob [Tierney] actually texted me directly and was like, ‘What do you think?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, Hudson, for sure.’ Instantly.”
“I read with one other possible Ilya, and it was good,” Williams recalled. “But something about Connor… There was an inexplicable X-factor that just felt realer than what I thought it could possibly be. And that was something. I had a quote I told Jacob, at one point, about my read with Connor in particular.”
“Hudson told me, ‘The other guy was good, but Connor felt like he was going to pin me down and fuck me,’” Tierney revealed. “That is literally what he said. And I was like, ‘Well, I think I cast this right.’”
“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.”
Last week’s cutesy, comedy-less rom-com was all good and well — a little something for the moms watching — but thank god we’re finally back to the story between Ilya and Shane that got us invested in this show in the first place. Their long-distance, slow-burn situationship is well portrayed through a montage at the beginning of the episode that spans 2014 to 2016. We see them continue to text, Ilya partying and Shane shooting brand deals, and both checking their calendars for the next game they have against each other. Those games are intercut with glimpses of the sex they’re having afterwards, and after Shane wins two cups, Ilya texts him, “The only cup you’ll have next year is the one I’ll take off with my mouth.”
But naturally, over this long stretch of time, people are asking about their respective romantic lives. During a trip to the aquarium with Hayden and his four kids, who only appear off-screen (saving production money that they can then spend on body oil), he asks about an ex of Shane’s, and tries to set him up with one of his wife’s friends. Even Shane’s parents try to set him up with a Swedish princess — a brief break from their usual focus on his brand deals. Even Ilya gets pressed by Svetlana about whether he’s dating, and she asks about the mysterious “Jane” he’s texting. But neither of them seems open to any romantic prospects outside of one another.
Finally, the pair meet again at Ilya’s place, and waste no time kissing right there in the entryway, where Ilya lifts Shane up onto the counter. We then cut to Shane riding him in bed like a Zamboni, before getting spun around in a smooth position switch. Afterwards, when Shane suggests that he should go, Ilya asks him to spend the night, adding, “I’m not done with you.” Even hotter than the bare asses.
It’s also a marked shift from what we’re used to seeing between them, especially from Ilya. In the first two episodes, their relationship was predominantly physical, but naturally, over such a long stretch of time, a personal connection has grown. Amongst other things, a-yo! What happens when Shane stays is far more intimate and vulnerable than anything we’ve seen thus far — they cuddle, Ilya asks if Shane’s ginger ale is cold enough, and even offers to make him a tuna melt. A tuna melt! Get a room, you two, Jesus. But with this evolution comes confusion. Purely sexual or fully romantic are much easier connections for someone to wrap their head around than this grey, in-between area on that spectrum.
For example, when they’re sitting on the couch, Ilya mentions sleeping with Svetlana and dating women, which Shane seems to bristle at. In turn, Shane says he likes girls too, even though Ilya hasn’t seen any proof of this. “I like girls, but I also like you,” Ilya tells him. “Not as a person, of course. But you have a good mouth.” The barb points out the elephant slowly wandering into the room — are they just mouths (and butts), or are they people in each other’s lives? While the first half of this conversation points to the former, the next part, in which Shane asks if Ilya’s father is okay after overhearing a tense phone call, suggests the latter. “Oh, you speak Russian now?” he asks, to which Shane replies, “I know the word for father.” Yeah, I bet he knows the Russian word for daddy, too.
Cuddling on the couch quickly turns to Shane getting on top of Ilya yet again, this time jerking them both off. But post-completion, Shane suddenly has a change of heart and quickly decides to leave, saying, “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.” It’s like he’s reading off that Post-It note Berger left for Carrie Bradshaw. That grey area might just be too much for him to wrap his head around.
Later in the episode, Shane gets invited to a party where the show essentially presents him with his two potential paths. First, when he orders a drink, a seemingly flirtatious male bartender gives it to him for free — so that’s what’s available behind Door Number One. But behind Door Number Two is the actress Rose Landry (played by Yellowjackets’s Sophie Nélisse). Impossible to say which is the gayer choice: gay sex or hanging out with Young Melanie Lynskey. Ultimately, he chooses the latter. She’s in town shooting a new “X-Squad” movie, and being that she grew up in a family of hockey fans, the pair naturally hit it off.
But what’s really driving this connection? A high profile relationship would make sense if Shane was facing questions about his sexuality from the public, but any pressure to date has really just come from his close friends and family. There’s also the possibility that he’s actually into Rose. But the timing of this is interesting, with it happening right after Ilya mentioned sleeping with women himself. Is this some kind of competitive bi-off? Or maybe he’s scared that his connection with Ilya is beginning to shift more toward the romantic than the physical, and this is an attempt to run or course-correct.
In any case, the relationship soon goes public. Paparazzi photos of the pair are taken, Rose wears his jersey to a game, and they quickly become the hot celebrity/sports couple — like Travis and Taylor. Ilya, being the Karlie Kloss in this situation, is, of course, disgruntled by the coverage.
Two weeks later, they’re playing against each other again, and per usual, Shane is on his phone before the game. But this time it’s Rose he’s texting, who wants him to go out to the club with her afterwards. Old habits die hard, though, and we see him check his messages with Ilya…but nothing. Maybe that’s why they both end up underperforming in what turns out to be a dud of a game, though we do at least get one quick glimpse of Ilya throwing Shane up against the glass out on the ice. Oh, I didn’t realize this was an exhibition match.
After the game, Shane meets up with Rose as planned, and despite being exhausted, agrees to dance with her at the club. But guess who also decided to go to what seems to be Montreal’s only club after the game? Ilya, who watches on after spotting hockey’s new it-couple together across the dance floor. But two can play at that game, so Ilya finds a girl of his own and ups the ante by making out with her in front of Shane. I can already picture the fan edits of this scene set to “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn. But since this is a Crave Original, that of course isn’t the song actually playing, it’s “All The Things She Said” by (fittingly) Russian duo t.A.T.u.
But quick sidebar: what’s the deal with Rose’s friend Miles? He’s actively flirting with Shane at their table, makes eyes at Ilya at the bar, and then, in the strangest move of all, joins Shane and Rose on the dance floor and not only grinds up behind Shane, but kisses his neck like they’re in Challengers? And it goes completely unacknowledged by everyone. What the fuck is that about?
Perhaps because the club refused to play Robyn’s music, both of our hockey players soon leave. Shane has sex with Rose, which feels a little like watching a dog walk on its hind legs, whereas Ilya is left to jerk off alone in the shower. But as we cut back and forth between their respective completions, it feels like the moment they’re both actually still in is the brief eye contact they made on the dance floor.
• 12:34: Shane’s butt in motion, grinding as he rides Ilya. Classless.
• 12:50: A rear shot of him walking toward Ilya in bed, fully nude. Tasteful.
• 41:28: Ilya’s hockey butt narrowly avoids shattering the glass as he jerks off in the shower. Christmas came early and so did he.
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