The Explore Canada account on Instagram, with almost two million followers, has in its bio that it is the birthplace of Heated Rivalry. NHL ticket sales have grown 20% since the series began airing. Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York, recommended reading the novels on which it is based during the latest snowstorm, and the digital lending of the saga increased its downloads by 529%. If you thought the next TV phenomenon would be the new series from the Game of Thrones universe, you were mistaken. But that’s all right because, at last, you will be able to join it.
Movistar Plus+ premieres today in our country Heated Rivalry, a romantic and sports drama that has sparked passions wherever it has aired, achieving IMDb scores reserved for cult classics. In countries like the United States and Australia it has been the second most-watched series on the platform that aired it per episode. Its title, Heated Rivalry in English, has been a global trend on Instagram and TikTok since November. And there are even videos of the excitement that a certain episode provokes among the dozens of pub patrons. Yes, just like the one from the series based on the books by George R. R. Martin.
We have had the opportunity to watch its first episodes and we understand the fever, we celebrate it and we are eager for Spain to also experience this passion for Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov and their story. We tell you what Heated Rivalry is about, which has already been renewed for a second season, and why you have to watch it.
Rivals on the Ice, Not So Much Off It
Heated Rivalry begins in 2008, when Shane and Ilya meet on the ice defending the colors of their respective national teams, Russia and Canada, at the World Junior Championship. Before the first emerge victorious, they exchange a few words and later Ilya reminds Shane that, as stars, they will soon meet in the NHL Draft (the rookie selection process).
Connor Storrie, que ya hizo el casting de la serie a pecho descubierto, es Ilya Rozanov en la serie Más que rivales.
Months later, Russia’s victory and his talent help Ilya to be chosen first and play for the Boston Bears. Shane finishes second, something that saddens him but drives him to keep becoming a better player, which leads him to spend the afternoon in the hotel gym where he stays. There, while riding the stationary bike, Ilya appears, prompting him to push himself even harder. When they finish, they talk while resting and Shane cannot help noticing the attractiveness of his rival, the sweat running down his body and the water bottle with which he cools off.
When the league begins, months later, the players meet again because the schedule demands it or because the possibility arises to shoot an advertisement together. It is here that the sexual tension between them reaches its peak, as Shane discovers that perhaps his presence on set is not casual and later they share a steamy moment in the showers. Shane asks him to forget it but Ilya suggests meeting in his hotel room. And at last the feelings that had been repressed for so long are unleashed and the awaited moment takes place.
A Series to End Hockey’s Worst
All of this, and more, unfolds in the first episode of Heated Rivalry, which spans three years in time and is an emotional rollercoaster for both protagonists. Shane and Ilya must cope with their feelings, with the prejudices that exist in sports environments toward them and with the distance that separates them and only allows them to see each other, without arousing suspicion, when the schedule allows or they meet at some gala.
Hudson Williams es Shane Hollander en la producción canadiense ambientada en el mundo del hockey sobre hielo, Heated Rivalry.
Rachel Reid wrote, as she stated herself in 2023, Heated Rivalry in response to the anger she felt “about the hockey culture and how clearly homophobic it was, and all the other things that make me ashamed to be a hockey fan.” The entire saga attacks the NHL and hockey culture a little bit. Although the development of the relationship between the protagonists, the challenges they face and their fears are, in fact, transferable to any professional male sport.
As with Heartstopper, fans of television series have fervently welcomed Reid’s creation that Jacob Tierney has brought to the screen. And beyond his excellent work in doing so, with a narrative that manages to be swift and to move away from stereotypes and the chemistry between Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, it is undeniable that the looks between Shane and Ilya, the sex scenes and their excellent physical condition have conquered the hearts (and minds) of viewers, in addition to the virality on social media.
The Waiters Who Became Stars
As if the undeniable success on platforms that now serve to prove that something has triumphed isn’t enough, it is revealing to discover how life has changed for its two leads: Canadian Hudson Williams and Texan Connor Storrie, who is not Russian. Aged 24 and 25 respectively, both had experience in acting and Storrie even appeared in Joker: Folie à Deux, but before becoming the protagonists of Heated Rivalry the two worked as waiters.
Connor Storrie, who is also a pleasure to see in a shirt, in an image from Heated Rivalry, where he plays the Russian player Ilya Rozanov.
In casting, which Storrie, for whatever reason and not strictly necessary, did shirtless, both actors auditioned with shared scenes to test their chemistry, and with other actors. According to Tierney, when he asked them who they felt most comfortable with, both named the other. And in the first read-through of the script, even though it was via Zoom, the chemistry between them was already evident.
Just four months after the English-language release of Heated Rivalry, Hudson and Storrie are two television stars who, in addition to gracing international magazine covers, presented an award at the Golden Globes a few weeks ago, joking about how attendees at the ceremony have seen them (naked). And their mothers, and their daughters.
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams carrying the Olympic torch in an image created by the Milano Cortina Olympic Games’ Instagram account.
And in case anyone thinks the phenomenon is exclusively audiovisual, on January 25 they carried the Olympic torch in Italy, ahead of the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, though we are sure this won’t be the only nod and the lead pair will be very present (more mental than physical) in the ice hockey games to be played during the event.
Movistar Plus+ premieres today the entire season of Heated Rivalry. And for those who want to embrace the fever of the saga created by Rachel Reid in full, Montena will publish Heated Rivalry in Spain on February 24. Change the Game, the first novel in the saga, will reach bookstores on April 28, and The Price to Pay, the third, will do so on May 26.
