Heated Rivalry Has Real Closeted Players Coming Forward, if not Coming Out.

So there's this little show that a few people are watching. Maybe you've heard of it? "Heated Rivalry?" It's getting a few views. And by "a few views," I sarcastically mean to say that it's the most successful original show on Crave, where it plays in Canada (HBO Max in the US), and two of the episodes are among IMDB's highest-rated shows of all time. It's been free-lit for a second season, naturally. So we know how the gays and girls feel about the show phenomenon that revolves around Shane Hollander, a closeted star hockey player who gets into a romance with rival hockey player Ilya Rozanova. But what about actual hockey players, or players of any sport? Well, according to a recent article in the New York Times, players, at least closeted ones, have been reaching out to the writers and to star Hudson Williams.

Hudson Williams has been scoring some meaningful private messages.❤️ https://t.co/R7jsrqCDcF (🎥: Radio Andy / SiriusXM) pic.twitter.com/JaYkBiKjWq

— E! News (@enews) January 8, 2026

"'Hockey players, football players, basketball players,' Williams told Andy Cohen in an interview on Sirius XM Radio that aired Thursday. 'They’re reaching out to (author Rachel Reid), who will then relay these lovely, anonymous emails. Sometimes they’re just reaching out privately through Instagram. Those ones are the ones that really just kind of hit you and go, "Oh, this is a fun show. It’s celebratory." But also, sometimes, it’s just hitting people right in the nerve.'"

"Heated Rivalry" is based on a series of books, Game Changers, by writer Rachel Reid of Halifax. Montreal-based writer and director Jacob Tierney adapted the work for television. Williams's costar, François Arnaud, recently told Variety, “I just hope that it brings on actual change in the league and that it has a real influence on how they treat their own players and the possibility of that. Because it’s not, historically, the most open association.” He admitted his surprise that hockey players were watching the show and that it was being used by the NHL to recruit more fans.

As the NYTimes explains it, "There has never been an openly gay active player in the NHL’s history. Defenseman Luke Prokop, who currently plays for the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors, was drafted by the Nashville Predators in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft before coming out publicly in July 2021. The NHL does, however, have an openly gay player agent in Bayne Pettinger."

Check out one of the many steamy scenes that's making this show about ice hockey so damn hot!

What are your favorite "Heated Rivalry" moments?

Questions? Comments? Email us at [email protected]
Follow us on Twitter and Instagram.