Ilya (Connor Storrie) and Shane (Hudson Williams) in Heated Rivalry.
Photo: Sabrina Lantos
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will have heard of Heated Rivalry – the gay ice hockey romance that has taken the internet and the entertainment industry by storm.
The Canadian drama is an adaptation of a romance novel by Rachel Reid (if you can find a copy, good luck). The plot focuses on the eight-year-long secret relationship between two ice hockey rivals, Canadian Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie): we watch as the two compete on the ice in public while falling in love in private.
The supporting characters are also key. There is Scott Hunter (François Arnaud), another closeted player who comes out in an amazing public scene. And then there are the women Shane and Ilya confide in: Rose, Shane’s short-lived girlfriend, who helps him realise his sexuality – a refreshing take on a woman in a closeted man’s life – and Svetlana, Ilya’s confidante, who knows about his bisexuality. The TV adaptation fleshes out these characters and they have become fan favourites.
The show, which was shown in Canada in November 2025, began streaming in the UK last Saturday, finally allowing the British public to become as obsessed as everyone else on the planet. I immediately tried to get my mum to watch it, but as a former hockey player and athlete, she was unimpressed. She was hoping for sport, while I was there for the cute gay men making me cry.
Because my friends and I are chronically, compulsively, online, I found out about the show last November. First Marina sent me a fan edit to which I frantically replied “What is this show??” and said that I needed to watch it immediately. Then, along with Canadian and American audiences, I consumed the memes and edits on TikTok and Instagram until screeners became available after Warner Bros announced the wider distribution.
To me, the real success of the show is that it demonstrates that big budgets and networks are not always needed to engage big, devoted audiences. HBO may now be the show’s distributor, but it is Crave, an independent company based in Canada, that brought it to life, with a small budget, a few hockey sticks and a dream. I liken its success and growth to that of the Norwegian high school drama Skam, created by Julie Andem when NRK, the Norwegian public broadcaster, was looking for ways to broaden its appeal and attract young viewers. Much like Skam, Heated Rivalry's popularity has grown organically – a fandom created through Tumblr gifs, TikToks and online chatter. Whether it's fancams to Taylor Swift's song Endgame, or the endless jokes about Shane disassociating in the club to t.A.T.u. (such as this one featuring Williams and talk-show host Jimmy Fallon) or the excitement of going to his waterfront cottage, the show has brought the internet together.
The show highlights many issues, with homophobia in sport being the main one. Heated Rivalry has become popular to pirate across the world, especially in places such as Russia, where being homosexual is criminalised; Ilya no doubt feels relatable to many young closeted Russians. The show has balanced the right amount of melodrama with the reality of being closeted and dealing with identity, toxic family members, pressure, crushes and love. It is graphic – I was shocked initially that they were going all-in with the sex scenes in the first episode. But the sex is not gratuitous. Rather, it is part of the plot and character development, as we see Ilya and Shane in these private moments in hotel rooms across the country and the way their relationship builds from lust and exploration to trusting each other in bed, laughing together.
The show’s success is more than just watching sweaty sportsmen in action (although, OK, that is a big part of it); it also features great performances and heartfelt love stories. And we can all root for those.
Michaela Makusha is a freelance journalist. She has written for titles including the Guardian, the New World and Teen Vogue.