Heated Rivalry fans have discovered the Hamilton location of a very sweet scene
We’ll tell you how to get there if you want to have a little cry
Caution: mild spoilers ahead.
There’s a touching scene in Heated Rivalry—touching as in poignant, not whatever else you’re thinking—in which Connor Storrie’s character, Ilya Rozanov, finally confesses his love for fellow star athlete Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams. After years of having to close himself off from genuine honesty, he reveals the depths of his feelings, but he does it in Russian, so Hollander can’t understand him but the audience can (thanks to the magic of subtitles).
It’s a pivotal moment for their love story, and it takes place inside a tunnel that’s meant to portray Rozanov in Russia, with Hollander at home, thousands of miles away.
Eagle-eyed Heated Rivalry fans have identified the tunnel’s real coordinates, and they’re actually in Hamilton. Known as the Pink Tunnel, Hollander and Rozanov’s vulnerable vestibule is located near the edge of Corktown Park and is known for the uplifting messages people write on its walls.
It’s not uncommon for film and television projects to shoot in Hamilton, and other locations in the area also provided backdrops for scenes—Kip and Scott Hunter have their meet-cute at Relay Coffee, and Dundurn Castle is meant to be a Russian landmark. But the Pink Tunnel makes an already sentimental moment even more adorable.
Fans have started to make pilgrimages, with some TikTok users posting videos of Storrie’s lines written on the walls and calling it “Ilya’s tunnel.” Others haven’t made it to the Pink Tunnel in person but have added to the lore through Google reviews. “Went here for a walk but someone was inside sobbing and crashing out in Russian, so just be wary of that,” read one. Five stars!
Related:Shane and Ilya will bring their Heated Rivalry to the Golden Globes
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
