Back in the early 2000s, when David Beckham was at the height of his fame, The Sun newspaper claimed to have found the only person on the planet who hadn’t heard of him: a shepherd in Chad. I wonder if that shepherd has escaped the impact of Heated Rivalry, the viral Canadian ice hockey show that follows the tale of stick-crossed lovers Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov.
Heated Rivalry’s impact has been nothing short of monumental. It has made stars of its lead actors, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, who went from total unknowns to Olympic torch bearers in a matter of months. It prompted a professional ice hockey player to publicly come out, sparking a flurry of headlines. The Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, is a fan. It was name-checked by New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, who gave New Yorkers free online library access to the book series the show is based on during the city’s snowstorms this week. There was a 529 per cent increase in downloads as a result.
