If you’ve been emotionally checking the scorecard between Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) every Saturday night, you can officially breathe (and scream) — Heated Rivalry has been renewed for a second season.
But we may not be seeing Hollanov dive straight into new couple bliss, with show runner Jacob Tierney teasing that this next season will be heading into “much more serious territory”.
Crave, the Canadian streaming service behind the swoony-sporty series, confirmed the news in December last year with what might be the most accurate depiction of the fandom’s mental state: “Screaming, crying, throwing up! #HeatedRivalry is confirmed for SEASON 2!” the streamer wrote on their socials.
Same, Crave. Same.
HBO Max, which licences the show for US and Aussie audiences, also joined in on the fun with a cheeky announcement video featuring stars Connor and Hudson. In the clip, the actors pull a hockey puck out of a package marked “Heated Rivalry Season 2”. Williams then promises fans that the next chapter will be “hotter, wetter, longer”, while Storrie teases, “Start reading The Long Game if you want to spoil it for yourself.”
What is Heated Rivalry?
Created by Tierney for Crave and based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers book series, Heated Rivalry follows two of Major League Hockey’s top players — Shane and Ilya — whose intense rivalry turns into something way more complicated (and a bit sweaty).
It’s enemies to lovers, but with more slapshots and emotional damage.
Season one, which premiered on November 29 and wraps up December 27, quickly became one of the most talked-about queer dramas of the year — partially because of its heart, and mostly because it made sports fans and romantics suddenly overlap on the Venn diagram of chaos.
What is the plot of Heated Rivalry season 2?
Fans of Reid’s books will already know where things are headed and now showrunner Jacob Tierney has confirmed that season two will focus on book six in Reid’s series: The Long Game. Shane and Ilya are still together but trying to keep their relationship secret as they juggle their careers, their public image and the fallout from finally saying “I love you” out loud.
Speaking at a BookCon panel this week alongside Reid, Tierney said the new episodes were “really different” and move the couple into “much more serious territory”, explaining that while “there’s still lots of flirting and lots of sex”, the “hotel-room-adolescent-sex stuff is largely gone” and that this shift creates “really new challenges” for the show.
He also teased that the writers are “digging into” the realities of adult relationships, citing a major fight between Shane and Ilya from The Long Game as one of his favourite moments to adapt because it asks, “what do you do after the rush of danger is gone and now you have to live in a relationship where you still aren’t communicating properly?”
At least their terrible communication skills will still be part of the show. It’s great to be able to count on certain things!
On top of Hollanov dealing with grown-up feelings and communication issues, season two will fold in parts of Role Model. This is the fifth book in the Game Changers series which follows Ilya’s new Ottawa teammate Troy and the team’s social media manager Harris, with Tierney calling Troy “a really damaged guy” and promising the show will “dig into that even harder”.
Tierney stressed that “Ilya and Shane are the heartbeat of this series” and that the show will keep following their trajectory even as their world expands to include new characters and messier emotional stakes.
What is the release date for Heated Rivalry season 2?
Season two is set to be released next year, with Tierney confirming that the emotionally heavier new chapter will arrive after fans have had some time to recover from that cottage finale.
Until then, you might as well revisit season one or start reading The Long Game and Role Model if you’re feeling impatient.
Lead image: Heated Rivalry
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