
Awards season just got a lot hornier with the news that Heated Rivalry stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie (a.k.a. Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov) will be presenting at Sunday’s Golden Globes ceremony. The two actors have gone from unknowns to internet obsessions since the show came out late last year, inflaming hearts, igniting loins and shifting eggplant emoji use into overdrive—not to mention spreading an important message about inclusivity in sports and sending rabid TV execs on a quest for “the next gay hockey show.”
Related: “We deserve a gay show that is sexy and horny and fun”—Jacob Tierney on his new queer hockey romance, Heated Rivalry
Based on the hockey romance novels by Canadian author Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry is the story of two closeted gay NHL players who are sworn enemies on the ice and sworn to secrecy as lovers in countless hotel rooms. Jacob Tierney, who developed the books for TV, told Toronto Life that he wanted to create “queer joy for adults,” and did he ever deliver. Maybe it’s the January blahs coupled with the looming breakdown of global democracy, but Heated Rivalry really has felt like a reason to get up in the morning (and check for the latest Hollanov meme).
This isn’t just our CanCon pride showing—even Miley Cyrus and Pedro Pascal have professed their fandom. Williams and Storrie will each make their US late-night-show debuts over the next few days (the former with Jimmy Fallon, the latter with Seth Meyers). And on Sunday, they’ll reunite in front of a global audience that just got a lot bigger now that the horny hockey internet will be tuning in.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”