Heated Rivalry
Hey Everyone and welcome, today we will be talking about season 1 of Heated Rivalry. Spoilers Ahead! Fun Fact: While the author of the book, Rachel Reid, doesn’t directly base her characters on real people, she was inspired by rivalries like the one between Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin. This show came out in 2025 and stars Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, Francois Arnaud, and was created by Jacob Tierney. So without further ado lets get right into it.
Heated Rivalry follows Ilya and Shane, 2 Hockey players who happen to fall in love. Due to their careers and one of their countries not being accepting, they kept it under wraps for about 10 years. We also meet another Hockey player by the name of Scott Hunter, who meets a barista, Kip, whom he falls for. When Scott Hunter comes out, it makes Ilya and Shane question their relationship and makes them reevaluate their relationship.
Heated Rivalry is a Romance show with a little bit of sports. It has similar vibes to Challengers, Young Royals, or Interview With The Vampire.
To be honest, Heated Rivalry wasn’t on my radar initially, but I saw someone talking about it after the first 2 episodes dropped, so I said well let me take a look. Once I watched maybe 10 minutes, I became hooked because the actors just had such great chemistry, and I really needed to see how the story would play out. The show is a little raunchy, so if you are a prude, maybe skip it, but it’s a good storyline that will have you rooting for this character’s relationship. Heated Rivalry is actually the second book in the series, with the first book being Game Changers, which focuses on Scott and Kip, which is mostly condensed to the 3rd episode. It’s rare to find a show with unknown actors these days that blows up like this, which is always cool to see because we need some fresh faces.
Ilya Rosanov and Shane Hollander are the two main 2 characters of the show played by Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, respectively. From the first 15 minutes, I knew they had insane chemistry and truly made me think they wanted each other immediately. As the show goes on, it is interesting to learn more about the characters and how they navigated this situation and managed to keep so many people in the dark. There were so many ups and downs, and while they had their fun, there were a lot of moments of doubt that they would be able to keep the relationship going and a secret. I love that they are a couple that you root for; you want them to have a happy ending together. No matter how much they try to pretend they don’t love each other, they do, and they make each other better. It was nice to see how they were so different but fit so well together.
The show takes place over about 10 years, which is something that caught me off guard. I was not really paying attention to the dates because there were so many, and I didn’t realize how important they would be. In hindsight its interesting how long they kept it a secret, but also how they were able to keep going after so long. In the beginning, they are young, so by the time of the cottage episode, they would be older, and while hockey is still important to them, they really put into perspective how important they are to each other. I love how they go from having chemistry to this steamy fling to them actually falling for each other. Even though it’s a long time, I loved how the show displayed the increasing difficulty of hiding the relationship and them actually falling in love.
Scott and Kip’s story was beautiful, then tragic, then later back to beautiful. Scott falls for Kip, a barista who is out, but Scott isn’t, and is nervous about coming out because he doesn’t want his life and career to unfold. He ask sKip to keep it a secret, which lasts for a while, but as things get serious, that becomes harder, and the nail in the coffin is Kip inviting Scott to his birthday party and Scott denying. The relationship falls apart, but Scott still wears the socks that Kip gave him, which are important to him. It’s sad that Scott has no one and fears hell loose it all if he comes out. By episode 5, he is on top of his game after winning the trophy and getting MVP, but feels alone as everyone else is kissing their wives and embracing their families. He ends up calling Kip down and kissing him, thus coming out and talking about it later in his speech. This kiss was seen by Ilya and Shane, who were shocked, but it also made them question if it’s something they may be able to achieve. It convinced Ilya to go to the cottage and proved that Scott is a trailblazer, but more importantly, he gets to be himself. Hockey is important to Scott, and he realizes that his life outside is also important, and Kip elevated that, so he needs to make sure to build that part, too. I really want to know more about Scott and kips story, but also how it all plays out for Scott and maybe some of his story.
The show has 3 main hockey players, and it’s funny how little hockey is shown. It’s not really an issue for me because the relationships are more interesting, but I laugh when I see hockey cause I forgot it was what made them famous in the show.
A highlight of the show was the women who were usually friends of the guys. They were all so supportive, and I loved to see them supporting their friends through thick and thin. Kip had Maria and Elena, who knew when he was lying and could gather through hints that he was dating Scott and wanted to protect him. Ilya had Svetlana, who I thought was in the dark about Shane until the scene at Ilya’s dad’s funeral, when she tells him that she knows he loves Jane more and how special He is, meaning she had an idea that it was a guy or maybe Shane, which is nice that she kept it underwraps but also lets him know she supports him. Shane has Rose, whom he dates and then they break up, and she says she knows he’s gay from their experiences and getting to know him, and Shane says he prefers to be a hole, not the pole, which made me laugh. Later on, Shane also has his mom. It’s also funny how they could see through the lies, and I love how they never judge them negatively and encourage them to live their life, take risks, and be the support system that the guys need.
I loved Hollanders coming out and how messy it was. His dad sees him and Ilya, his rival, kissing, and is in shock and leaves his house. When he goes to have a talk with his parents, he explains everything, and it’s funny because Ilya doesn’t know some of the appropriate things to say to his parents. I do love how when Shane talked about how he tried not being gay, and his mom says he has nothing to apologize for, and she says sorry that he felt like he couldn’t tell her. I loved this interaction with his mom, but it’s also funny how, after this, she goes into the house and starts talking about how to make business plans to help him keep brand deals and get more. It was nice to see a weight lifted off Shane’s shoulders because he seemed so stressed.
The scene where they play All The Things She Said had some great unspoken tension. Shane and Ilya end up at the same club, and Shane is dating Rose, and Ilya ends up at the same club and sees them, and they kinda have a mental battle over who can make who jealous. I feel like up until this part, Ilya was holding back from showing how much he cared, but at this point, we know that he is extremely jealous. The scene ends with Shane later hooking up with Rose, and Ilya hooking up with his hand, and they both look at us very angrily at the end, which was funny cause umm, I didn’t cause this mess that you’re in. It had that song stuck in my head, and overall was a great scene.
In episode 5, Shane gets hurt, which shocked me, and you could see how Ilya was trying to keep it together, and Shane first thinks about him. No matter how much they had tried to hide their feelings, at their lowest, like in this scene, the first person he thought of was his secret lover. I love how even though Ilya had so much to lose, he goes and visits him in the hospital, where Shane, on medication ask him to come to the cottage, which Ilya hesitates about. Shane getting hurt further showed their love for each other because Ilya wanted to make sure his babygirl was ok. I loved seeing this and how they supported each other through thick and thin.
The cottage was brought up in earlier episodes, but we finally get there in the finale, and it didn’t disappoint. They confess their love for each other, start thinking about next steps, and accidentally expose their relationship to Shane’s parents. I loved seeing Ilya opening up more and telling Shane that his mom would have loved him just as much as he does. It was the first time they truly had some time to themselves to just talk and enjoy each other without having to make a complicated plan or hide their feelings.
There have been interviews with Hudson, who plays Shane, and Connor, who plays Ilya, and it’s so funny because you come to find out that they both seem more like each other’s characters. Hudson is more aggressive, but in a funny positive way, and Connor seems more shy and reserved from what I’ve seen. I love the interviews, though, because Hudson will say something raunchy and hilarious, and Connor is like trying to keep it together. I love the energy they bring off-screen as well as on-screen. I think it’s fun to watch these interviews and want to see more because they have this infectious energy.
My favorite part of the season was when Ilya opened up more throughout the season. I feel like with Shane we see much more of his life and how good it seems, but for Ilya we see bits of his life, and every time we get a glimpse in it seems chaotic. As we near the end of the season, we see more and see how hard it is for him to support his family while his dad has dementia and his brother is guilt-tripping him, even though he is supporting them. It puts a lot of pressure on him to perform well so that he has money to send to his family, and it obviously bothers him. He handles it well, but when his father dies, we see it reach a breaking point when he is talking to Svetlana, and his brother calls her a whore, and Ilya almost loses it, but Svetlana tells him to relax. Later, he calls Shane, and he’s not used to having someone to listen to what he’s going through, so Shane says talk to him in Russian. He talks about his frustrations with his family because they see him as a bank or the enemy, and how he hates coming back to Russia. He’s sad that his brother spent more time with his dad and has no one but Svetlana, whom he loves, but not like he loves Shane, and says how much he wants Shane, and he keeps thinking of him. It’s a tragically beautiful scene and gives more insight as to why he’s so guarded because he’s been used by his family as a bank, and it’s hard to open yourself up and be vulnerable, but it’s the first time one of them says i love you even though Shane can’t understand. I love how he keeps opening up more in the last episode, which really shows how, even though it’s taken so long, he trusts and feels safe around Shane, even though he has this tough exterior.
Heated rivalry was a great little gem filled with sex, love, and a wee bit of hockey. The cast had great chemistry, and the story had me invested in this blossoming love story. I’m glad it blew up as much as it did because I’m looking forward to a season 2 of the show.
