A guide to the Heated Rivalry actors, characters, and gay storylines

The time has come for the icy and spicy Heated Rivalry TV show to drop on HBO Max and Crave Canada, and fans are already losing their minds over the enemies-to-lovers hockey romance series that's poised to become the gay internet's latest obsession.

This all-new and very horny gay TV show follows Shane Hollander (played by Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (played by Connor Storrie) as two popular hockey players who are destined, and even framed, to be rivals. Except, upon meeting each other, the only thing these guys can think about is touching, and kissing, and puckin' each other. Relatable content!

This rivalry gets puckin' heated.

Based on Rachel Reid's Game Changers series of novels, this six-episode TV adaptation of Heated Rivalry is helmed by out director Jacob Tierney (Shoresy, Letterkenny) and features queer talent both on and off camera.

So, if you're ready to break the ice, here's everything you need to know about the storylines, characters, and actors of Heated Rivalry, which premieres Friday, November 28 and drops new episodes every Friday on HBO Max.

What is Heated Rivalry based on?

Most of the six novels in Rachel Reid's Game Changers literary franchise focus on different characters/lead couples who have their own standalone stories (not all, but more on that later!). Thus, it's worth noting that the story of lust and love between Shane and Ilya, as seen on the Crave/HBO Max TV show, comes from book two in Reid's series, Heated Rivalry, originally published in 2019.

The publishing timeline of the Game Changers series of novels is as follows:

• Book 1: Game Changer
• Book 2: Heated Rivalry
• Book 3: Tough Guy
• Book 4: Common Goal
• Book 5: Role Model
• Book 6: The Long Game

Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid, a proud resident of Nova Scotia, Canada and a lifelong hockey fan, has clarified that none of the queer hockey players in her books have been inspired by real-life athletes.

"I've been a hockey fan since the eighties, long enough to be very familiar with the different general types of hockey players," Reid has written on her website. "One of my inspirations for Heated Rivalry was, obviously, the extremely entertaining rivalry between Crosby and Ovechkin. But I was also inspired by other sports rivalries, by other fictional stories, and by my love of the enemies-to-lovers and forbidden romance tropes."

The author is also open about having Parkinson's Disease. "I don't mind talking about it and I love to joke about it," Reid has also written on her website. "It's objectively a very silly disease. Right now I'm still comfortable signing my name and maybe a personalization but I can't write longer inscriptions in books anymore."

Hudson Williams plays Shane Hollander.

From Vancouver, Canada, Hudson Williams is best known for playing Brandon on Tracker, Junior on Allegiance, Sean on Nobody Dumps My Daughter, and Jason on Devil Makes Three. Starring as Shane Hollander on Heated Rivalry, Williams is certainly experiencing a career breakout by portraying the main character in the series.

Williams has discussed in past interviews that his mother, who is of Asian descent, had concerns about his acting career.

"When I told [my mom] that I was going to be an actor, she says it scared her, because she thought her being an Asian lady… that it would kind of limit my possibilities for roles I could get. She hadn't really seen people like her on the screen," Williams said during a panel for Heated Rivalry.

In the duality between the two main characters of Heated Rivalry, Shane Hollander is more of the overachieving athlete with a flawless reputation in professional hockey. As the captain of the Montreal Meteors (named Montreal Voyageurs in the original novel), he is also adored by sports media outlets.

Shane grows up in a loving family — mom is Japanese-American, dad is Canadian — and struggles with his sexuality due to always being so responsible and committed to a hockey career that could be blown up to pieces if he were found out to be gay.

Instagram: @hudsonwilliamsofficial

Connor Storrie plays Ilya Rozanov.

Connor Storrie is also reaping the benefits of landing a breakout role on Heated Rivalry as the cocky and irresistible Ilya Rozanov. The 25-year-old actor is best known for playing Baxter in April X, a young inmate in Joker: Folie à Deux, Liam Hauser in Riley, and Tom in Headless Horseman.

In interviews, Storrie discussed the physical transformation that he went through in order to embody a character like Ilya, who's described in the book as being very different from how the actor actually is. Storrie also told Etalk that he's always been fascinated by Russian culture and language as a clear juxtaposition from how things are in America.

Ilya Rozanov is, in many ways, Shane Hollander's complete opposite. He comes off as someone who is entirely confident, and even arrogant at times, as captain of the Boston Raiders (named Boston Bears in the original novel). However, there are plenty of complications under that hard exterior.

A big part of Ilya's personality is influenced by having a cold, distant, dismissive family from Russia, a country that is still as anti-LGBTQ+ as a country could be. Even though Ilya feels secure about his bisexuality and has hooked up with both men and women, he's very aware that coming out to the world could not only damage his career, but also his ability to travel back home to visit Russia.

Instagram: @connorstorrieofficial

The Heated Rivalry novel takes place between 2008 and 2017 — starting when Shane and Ilya meet for the first time at a championship and following them for almost a decade after that.

Reid's book can be sweet and heartfelt, but has received even more praise for not shying away from explicit sex scenes. The story also navigates the lives of a closeted athletes in a way that feels pretty modern and realistic: public feuds, media attention, endorsement deals, and parasocial fans all being tackled to varying degrees.

The pressures of performing masculinity, dealing with internalized homophobia, and constantly choosing between a better career or personal life are all themes that these characters are challenged to navigate as well.

​François Arnaud plays Scott Hunter.

François Arnaud has been an out bisexual man since 2020, when he disclosed his sexual orientation in a thoughtful social media post related to Bisexual Visibility Day. On the Heated Rivalry TV series, the actor plays Scott Hunter: A professional hockey player who happens to be the protagonist of Reid's first book in the Game Changers series of novels.

Over the years, Arnaud starred in projects such as Twinless, Blindspot, UnREAL, Yellowjackets, The Borgias, and Midnight, Texas, to name a few. In May 2024, Arnaud played a love interest in between Orville Peck and Noah Cyrus in the country singer's music video for "How Far Will We Take It?"

Instagram: @francoisarnaud

Robbie G.K. plays Kip Grady.

The Heated Rivalry television series also features an exciting appearance from Kip Grady, the main love interest in Game Changer whose romance with Scott Hunter is the main focus of Reid's first book. Here, the character is played by actor Robbie G.K.

Previously, Robbie G.K. was best known for playing Riley on Overcompensating, Simon Carpenter in Marry F*** Kill, Tempo 3 on Utopia Falls, and Charlie on The Next Step.

Instagram: @robsgk

Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova plays Svetlana Vetrova.

Svetlana Vetrova, played by Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, is a friend and occasional lover in Ilya's life. In many ways, Svetlana represents an easier life that Ilya could have if he committed to a relationship with a woman who also came from Russia, was very independent, and didn't even have issues with Ilya's bisexuality.

Kharlamova's past acting credits include Robyn Hood, The Boys, Downsizing, and A Very Jonas Christmas Movie, among others.

Instagram: @daniela.xk

Callan Porter plays Hayden Pike.

Hayden Pike is also a hockey player in the Heated Rivalry universe, but the character is best known by fans as Shane Hollander's best friend.

On Crave/HBO Max's Heated Rivalry TV series, this character is played by Callan Potter, who's been in Workin' Moms, Zombie Town, The Other Kingdom, Riot Girls, and Murdoch Mysteries, to name a few.

Instagram: @cal_potter

Kaden Connors plays Sasha.

Kaden Connors, who's starred in projects like The Wrong Paris, Foragers, Wild Cards, and His & Hers, has been cast to play Sasha on Heated Rivalry.

Instagram: @kadenconnors

Harrison Browne plays Connors.

Harrison Browne — a hockey player who came out as a trans man in 2016 and went on to become the first out transgender professional hockey player in NWHL history — has also been credited as an actor on Heated Rivalry in the role of Connors.

Besides playing this character on the Crave/HBO Max series, 2025 has been a landmark year for Browne as director, writer, and star of the short film Pink Light about a former pro hockey player who gets to "time travels to his pre-transition past."

Instagram: @hbrowne24

​Christina Chang plays Yuna Hollander, and Dylan Walsh plays David Hollander.

Shane's parents, Yuna and David Hollander, are played by actors Christina Chang and Dylan Walsh on Heated Rivalry.

Walsh's noteworthy acting credits include Dr. Sean McNamara on Nip/Tuck, General Sam Lane on The CW's Superman & Lois, Morgan on The Lake House, and Mayor Peter Chase on Blue Bloods. Meanwhile, Chang is best known for playing Dr. Audrey Lim on The Good Doctor, Taylor in Live Free or Die Hard, Dr. Sunny Macer on 24, and Megan Vannoy on Nashville.

Does Shane and Ilya's story end on Heated Rivalry?

Editor's note: Potential spoilers ahead.

After setting up the love story between Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander in the Heated Rivalry novel (book two in the overall publishing series), these characters get a sequel in The Long Game novel (book six, and the final installment in the Game Changers series of novels so far).

Author Rachel Reid not only wrote The Long Game as a sequel for Shane and Ilya, but also as the final book in this saga of stories about enemies-to-lovers in the world of hockey. As of this writing, it is unclear if the six-episode TV show on Crave Canada and HBO Max will reach the story explored in The Long Game.

Without giving too much away, that follow-up novel is known for giving Shane and Ilya's romance a more definitive ending… so stay tuned for more updates!