Heated Rivalry - Season 2: Ryan and Fabian Cast Among Others

With Season 2 (and possibly Season 3 if rumours are correct) of Crave's Heated Rivalry currently filming, the cast continues to expand. Another couple pairing have been cast.

Clearly adapting elements from Rachel Reid's book, Tough Guy, it was announced today that Daniel Diemer (Percy Jackson) has been cast as Ryan Price. I've seen a few actors fancast for this role but not Daniel Diemer. I like his casting.

OF course with the casting of Ryan Price, there was also the casting of his other half. Shaheen Jafargholi (EastEnders, Wreck) has been cast in the role of Fabian Salah. With these two men cast, that's four couples for the show to explore in it's second season.

While Daniel and Shaheen's casting for Ryan and Fabian were announced today, nearly two weeks ago, other casting had been revealed.

• Emily Hampshire as Vanessa
• Edvin Ryding as Luca Haas
• Robert Naylor as Wyatt Hayes
• Sabrina Jalees as Farah Jalali
• Priyanka as Tarek

These new additions will join returnees Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, Francois Arnaud, Robbie GK as well as fellow newcomers Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie. Executive producer Jacob Tierney has promised more casting to be revealed soon.

Heated Rivalry is currently filming. Season 2 will premiere on Crave, HBO Max and Sky from Spring 2027.

Heated Rivalry - Season 2 Begins/Harris and Troy Cast

Yup, the second season of that one show that people haven't stopped talking about since November 2025 has now begun production and there's casting news ahoy.

First up, in terms of new casting fot Heated Rivalry, we have our Harris Drover. Assuming the role of the sports agent will be Justice Smith (I Saw The TV Glow) and it took less than an hour for the hot takes to come in. In the books, the character was depicted as white and on the stocky side of things with the latter being a major plot point. I'm assuming there's going to be major changes to Harris's story that accomdates Smith's casting and while I can understand why some are disappointed, I actually like the casting choice here.

Taking on the role of Troy Barrett would be Charlie Gillespie (Juliet And The Phantoms). The commentary hasn't been as severe on his casting as he's likely closer to the book depiction of the character. Troy's a character who gets caught up in a scandal while getting romantically involved with Harris. Suffice to say the Troy/Harris romance will generate a fair chunk of the screen time for the second season. I'm betting one episode in particular will have the pair very much front and centre.

Now what of our main couple? Don't worry, the second season very much will have Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov at the heart of everything. In the last eight months, we've seen both Hudson Williams and Connor Stories skyrocket in terms of popularity with both men appearing in a slew of upcoming tv and movie projects. The second season will keep Shane/Ilya as the main focus with Troy/Harris as the secondary couple.

As for Scott Hunter (Francois Arnaud) and Kip Grady (Robbie GK), they will also factor into the second season as well. Their romance was so beautifully handled in the first season, I'm glad we're going to see more of them. Especially if it pisses off certain toxic fans who made it their mission to be as horrible to Francois Arnaud for no good reason. I do think their screen time will less but I'll savour every minute of it.

Heated Rivalry Season 2 starts filming from next week. It'll be released on Crave, HBO Max and Sky/Now TV from Spring 2027.

My Review of Heated Rivalry: "The Cottage"

 

Written And Directed by Jacob Tierney 

Ilya: "Your family is here. Your boyfriend is here. You're good here."

Shane: "My boyfriend?

Ilya: "I mean, yes. I think so. Probably."

After last week's stunning penultimate episode, I'd say the expectations for this one were astronomical. Could it really stick the landing as a finale? Oh, it certainly did and then some.

The episode opened with Scott Hunter accepting an award a few months after hard launching his relationship with Kip Grady. Scott thanked everyone for his career success, including Kip for making him a better man. It was a lovely way to open the episode.

Then the episode delved into the cottage itself. Shane collected Ilya in secret and the two promised to be honest and relaxed with one another before heading to the titular location. This was a promise they managed to actually keep with one another.

Shane and Ilya at the cottage was just everything you could've wanted. They were goofy with one another, they were playful, they bickered a little like an old married couple and they also had some genuinely tender, truthful and even sexy moments. The writing could not have been more perfect for them.

Then we had the arrival of Shane's parents at the cottage and things continued to take an interesting turn. Of course Shane's parents suspected a little that he was gay but his relationship with Ilya still took them by surprise. I also loved how Ilya was with them.

I sound like I'm gushing too hard here but again those final moments when Shane realised he had a boyfriend with Ilya and both of his parents support, that genuinely was touching to see. Not to mention the last scene with Shane and Ilya driving away while holding hands. Absolutely beautiful.

- Shane and Ilya decided to set up a youth charity tackling suicide prevention. Ilya talked about his mother committing suicide.

- I did laugh at Ilya being disruptive during Shane's phone call with Hayden and playing as him in a video game. 

- I wish we had seen that scene between Ilya and Scott. That would've been nice. 

- Chronology: July 2017 and mostly in Ottawa for this episode.

The Cottage marked a brilliant end to a fantastic first season. Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams have been consistently brilliant throughout but these last two episodes truly saw them bring their A game. It'll be a while for the second season but hopefully both lads get some great gigs off the back of this show.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Heated Rivalry: "I'll Believe In Anything"

 

Written And Directed by Jacob Tierney 

Ilya (to Shane): "I'm coming to the cottage."

Wow, what a hell of an episode. I can only imagine for book fans what it must have been to see the events of this episode play out onscreen. As a non book fan, I genuinely think this topped Hunter as my favourite episode.

That's twice this season that Scott and Kip have pushed the show into a positive. The exploration of their love story was incredible but a win for Scott having him out his relationship with Kip so publicly. Yes, it veered into fantasy wish fulfilment territory but it was so well handled.

Especially when you consider that Scott and Kip only appeared at the end while Shane and Ilya were recovering from their own injuries. Scott and Kip really are the bar that have been set for Shane and Ilya. Will they make their relationship public in the finale? We'll see.

Things got a lot more emotional for the two with the more steamy of scenes being parked in favour for it. In this case, that's not a criticism. It was nice to see both men being vulnerable with one another. Shane admitted he had real feelings for Ilya and Ilya also had to cope with the loss of his father.

There's a beautiful but long conversation on the phone between Shane and Ilya with the latter spoke Russian throughout. It was a great way for Ilya to offload his issues and for Shane to be a positive sounding board for him.

Then there's the cottage. It's the title of the finale and Shane invited Ilya to spend time there, which the latter was reluctant in doing so. Of course with the ending of this episode, Ilya had a change of heart on the matter.

- Shane's coming out scene with Rose was beautifully handled. Every gay guy deserves a friend like Rose. 

- Shane's mother might know her stuff about hockey but she definitely didn't see the Scott/Kip kiss coming a mile off.

- UK/Irish viewers will be able to watch this show from January 10th. 

- Chronology: Late 2016 to May 2017. Boston, Moscow and Montreal.

I'll Believe In Anything was absolutely brilliant. Longer than earlier episode (though still under an hour), this was a great culmination in Scott/Kip's story and a brilliant way to really move things forward with Shane/Ilya.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Heated Rivalry: "Rose"

 

Written And Directed by Jacob Tierney 

Ilya: "I never hear about you with girls."

Shane: "It's private."

Ilya: "Right. Private."

Shane: "I keep a lot of things private, obviously."

I think this week, Ilya got a taste of what happens when you push your secret lover too far. For all his teasing that Shane wasn't into women, Ilya inadvertently pushed Shane into the arms of a woman and a famous one to boot.

Enter Rose Landry (Sophie Nelisse). She's a reasonably famous actress filming the sequel to X Squad in Montreal and funnily enough, both herself and Shane managed to hit it off without having to be set up with each other. If Ilya can continue whatever his relationship with Svetlana is, shouldn't Shane explore something with Rose?

Except that's not the show either gay men or the female audience want to watch. With Svetlana, at least she's aware of the score with Ilya but I have a feeling that Rose will fall in love with Shane and find out in the worst way possible that he's in love with Ilya. There's two episodes left to confirm that theory.

Now what of the rest of the episode. Shane and Ilya got their scenes together and they were as racy as the first two episodes but it's like they're falling for each other and don't know how to deal with it. It's definitely a reason why Ilya made a point about telling Shane that he liked girls. 

Ilya must have known that Shane was getting annoyed with Ilya going on about it. Likewise when Ilya found out about Shane and Rose, he could barely contain his own annoyance. It's like he went to that nightclub and got with a woman just to antagonise Shane publicly.

In fact, the two of them getting under each others skin definitely affected their game playing this episode too. They both had bad performances on the ice rink at different points in the episode. Then there was that last scene, which was pretty telling too with how they're effecting each other.

- Shane's friend now is about to be a father to a fourth kid. His daughter Ruby and Emma seem to be a handful.

- Rose talked about playing kidnap victims in a lot of her movies as well as working with Bill Paxton. 

- Standout music: Feist's My Moon My Man and t.A.t.u and Harrison's versions of All The Things She Said.

- Chronology: Summer 2014 to October 2016 in this episode.

Rose surprisingly enough didn't have as much focus on the title character as I thought but it did an okay job in establishing her relationship with Shane. While I didn't think this was a bad episode, I would say it's weakest so far.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Heated Rivalry: "Hunter"

 

Written And Directed by Jacob Tierney 

Scott (to Kip): "I want you more than I've wanted anything in a long time."

I have to admit the secrecy surrounding this episode was absolutely amusing. I mean why did they hold off on revealing the title when most knew that Scott Hunter (Francois Arnaud) was going to be the main focus? It did seem a bit silly.

As for the episode, oh I absolutely enjoyed this one immensely. While it might have been a bit jarring to bench both Shane and Ilya so soon, everything that happened with Scott made me not miss them as much as i thought I would.

I think we all clocked Scott being gay in the first two episodes and he certainly clocked Shane and Ilya as well. This episode confirmed Scott to be gay and focused on his relationship with lovely smoothie barista Kip Grady (Robbie G.K.). I think I might ship Scott/Kip more than Shane/Ilya if I'm being honest.

Francois Arnaud and Robbie G.K. just have such great chemistry with one another and while their story did hit the usual tropes, I didn't care. Bonding over a smoothie choice, venting about serial killers and asking to stay. Everything just hit beautifully with the two, even though the reality of Scott being closeted was in the background and waiting to split them up.

Kip had a nice support system. His friends Shawn (Brandon Ash-Mohammed) and Elena (Nadine Bhabha) certainly had Kip's back with the latter giving Scott a bit of a reality check. Then there's Kip's father, George (Matt Gordon), who also had Kip's back when he needed it the most.

As for Scott, I do think the episode provided a sympathetic reason for him being unable to come out. Book fans know it's coming and non book fans would've reduced. We did learn about Scott's family tragedy and how hockey saved him. We also saw the post break up regret he had too.  All of which was played beautifully. 

- Kip worked at Straw+Berry and it was his Blueberry and Banana Smoothie that won Scott over.

- Scott admitted to being too lazy to be a serial killer but knew the difference between that and a spree killer.

- We did briefly see both Shane and Ilya. Both of them got on Scott's nerves this week.

- Chronology: October 2013 to February 2014, focusing on the Scott/Kip relationship.

Hunter was an excellent third episode. I can understand why some might have been disappointed with Shane/Ilya being sidelined but I absolutely loved the focus on Scott/Kip that I wanted more from the pairing.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Heated Rivalry: "Olympians"

 

Written And Directed by Jacob Tierney

Ilya: "Do you want to know it feels?
Shane: "How's what feel?"

Ilya: "Holding the cup."

It's nice to know the first episode wasn't a false alarm. Although shorter and not as strong, this episode also continued to depict both Ilya and Shane's relationship as unabashed in it's sexiness and this one, they were largely at odds with one another. 

The episode again jumped around with time as Shane and Ilya spent more time with each, both on and off the ice rink. Roles had been established I their relationship with Ilya as a top and Shane as a bottom. I got to say, I don't know who I envied more as yet again, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams are selling this relationship so well.

Things between Shane and Ilya were going so well, so of course something had yo emerge for conflict. In this case, it was Ilya's winning streak coming to an end during the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Ilya might be a charming asshole but he's also a very sore loser, which brought out his pettier side.

Losing was such a blow to Ilya's ego that he froze Shane out for six months, much to the latter's justified annoyance. It wasng Shane's fault that Ilya lost during the Winter Olympics but Ilya had to take it out on someone. Their reunion in Las Vegas also saw a further division between the pair.

Of course before Ilya got testy with Shane again, he agreed to give the latter something he wanted but only in his penthouse. I swear that entire scene in the penthouse leading up to their sex scene was one of the sexiest scenes I've seen this year. These two characters/actors have such great chemistry together.

In fact there's such great chemistry that Ilya turned down the chance to sleep with Svetlana's friend, Sasha (Kaden Connors). Even Shane doesn't seem to be getting anything outside of his stolen moments with Ilya. I do wonder how long that will last as Shane will likely be bearded with a woman soon.

- I thought Svetlana was Ilya's girlfriend but nope, she's definitely aware that he's gay. She left him alone with Sasha.
- Scott seems to be retired from the Montreal Metros but still met up with Shane for ice cream. 
- The Lily and Jane thing was cute but at one moment I did think Shane's teammate was going to figure it out.
- Chronology: Spring 2011 to Fall 2014. Again, we're taking in Montreal, Boston, Las Vegas, Sochi and Moscow.

Olympians rounded off a strong opening double bill for the show. The Ilya and Shane sex scenes have definitely made the show so far, along with the slow burning love between the pair of them. I'm really enjoying this show.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Heated Rivalry: "Rookies"

 

Written And Directed by Jacob Tierney 

Ilya: "Shane Hollander, will you disappoint them?"

Shane: "No."

It's impressive how this show quickly became on everyone's radar before actually being released but it's finally here. Like all streaming shows these days, you either get the whole show all at once or open with a double/triple bill. It's doubles for this one.

Focusing on the rivalry between hockey teams the Montreal Metros and Boston Raiders, this six part Canadian series was a bit about the sport in question. However it was more about two players from opposing teams being rather drawn to one another.

In fact the opening scene saw Russian hunk Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) interacting with Canadian good boy Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams). Ilya plays for the Raiders and Shane's part of the Metros. Both are depicted as the best members of their teams. The episode however was more interested in other things than hockey itself.

As the episode played out (along with multiple time jumps), both Ilya and Shane were fucking on the sly. Both men were closeted but Ilya seemed a bit more happier to take risks compared to Shane. Ilya even went as far as to end the episode by kissing Shane at a public event.

However while the kissing was nice to see, what was nicer was the actual sexiness itself. If this first episode was anything to go, then we're definitely getting more explicit stuff as the show will go on. With this one, there's blowjobs, jerking off, ass appreciation and talk of dildos. You can definitely tell that a queer man was behind the scenes of this show and I mean that in a good way.

As for the rest of the episode, there's some screen time devoted to Shane's parents - Yuna (Christina Chang) and David (Dylan Walsh) as well as older hockey player, Scott Hunter (Francois Arnaud). There's a look into Ilya's brother and father, Alexei (Slavic Rogozine) and Grigori (Yaroslav Poverlo) as well as a girlfriend of Ilya's named Svetlana (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova) but their roles are small enough in this opening episode.

- The show is based on a book series from Rachel Reid called Game Changers. HBO Max quickly acquired the rights to this from Crave.

- Language wise, there's a mix of English, Russian and French throughout the episode.

- Shane got a Rolex sponsorship and there was talk of YouTube rabbit holes. 

- Chronology: So many months pass through the series with scenes in Toronto, Montreal, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and Russia.

Rookies opened up things rather nicely. Already there's excellent chemistry with Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams and there's a genuine sexiness to their scenes together. Looking forward to the rest of the show.

Rating: 8 out of 10