Heated Rivalry has successfully taken over the zeitgeist in a way that is unusual now that the days of mono culture are behind us, and for a queer show to do it is almost unheard of.
Queer as Folk and The L Word had huge followings, but Heated Rivalry might be the first gay TV show to truly pique the interest of straight men.
The gay hockey romance show had a built-in audience of queer people and women who loved the book it was based on, but the most surprising development is how many straight men have fallen in love with Shane and Ilya, too.
Heated Rivalry, a show about two rival hockey players who engaged in a nearly decade-long secret relationship that starts as just sex but ends up being true love, is all about yearning, intense love scenes, and moments of domesticity and tenderness among gay men that we don’t normally get to see on our TV screens.
And yet, there are straight male podcasters, YouTubers, and husbands on social media who have given the show a chance and ended up connecting with the characters and getting just as caught up in the love story as the rest of us.
There is something incredibly powerful and cathartic about straight men — and sports fans at that — watching a queer romance and being open-minded enough to love it when so many LGBTQ+ have awful memories of being tormented by jocks, and the show itself is about two closeted men who are terrified of the homophobic reactions of hockey fans and their own teammates.
Conservative politicians in the United States may have made it their mission to strip queer and trans people of their rights, but this feels like a vibe shift in the culture. If even straight male hockey fans can adore a gay show full of tenderness, sex, and uniquely queer struggles, then maybe there is hope for us after all.
Empty Netters
@yourboyt13 Now this is the future for men i want @Empty Netters #heatedrivalry #shanehollander #viral #straightmen #funny
The Empty Netters is a sports podcast hosted by three straight hockley bros who decided to review Heated Rivalry. When they started watching the show, they immediately gave it a chance and even had fun talking about the gay sex scenes with Dan Powers even commenting that during the Las Vegas sex scene, there was “a massive missed opportunity" to have Ilya "sniff the underwear” after Shane threw them at him.
@lovelies715 BEST QUOTE OF 2025 “ My hope for every closeted person is that when they come out they will have a cottage waiting for them “ Dan ❤️🌅@Empty Netters #heatedrivalry #connorstorrie #hudsonwilliams #trending #emptynetters
But by the time they were live reacting to episode 6, they got emotional because of the way Shane's dad reacted to seeing him kissing Ilya, and Powers said he that his hope for every gay person who decides to come out is that "when you step out of the closet, you step into the cottage."
Graviteh
Hockey fan Graviteh connected with the characters and ended up loving how heartwarming the show is, how much Ilya and Shane opened up while at the cottage, and was dissppointed that there were only six episodes.
Reel Rejects
The two straight male hosts of Reel Rejects got just as emotionally invested in the love story as the rest of us.
@a_girlandhercats He cried like I knew he would. @reelrejects #heatedrivalry #shanehollander #ilyarozanov #heatedrivalrytvshow #booktokrecs
One of the Reel Rejects guys even cried when Scott brought Kip onto the ice after winning the Stanley Cup and kissed him in front of the world, and cried again when Shane talked to his mom about being gay.
What Chaos!
The two straight hosts of the hockey fan podcast What Choas! became big fans of the show and were even blown away by Scott Hunter's big speech at the beginning of the finale episode, and were outraged that Kip wasn't with him at the award show.
@whatchaos Heated Rivalry showrunner Jacob Tierney on what's coming in Season 2...and Season 3?! #heatedrivalry #hbo #tv #hockey #hockeylife
They even had director Jacob Tierney on the show to talk about season two.
Reel Time
The three straight male hosts of Reel Time watched Heated Rivalry, and one of the hosts even admitted to his eyes bouncing back and forth between Ilya and Shane's butts during the shower scene in the first episode.
TikTok husband
@jwooohoo Didn’t even bat an eye 🤣 #heatedrivalry #hockeyromance #husbandreacts
Some women even took to TikTok to show their husbands the show and were pleasantly surprised by how much they loved it.
Who could have guessed that a sexually charged gay hockey romance would be the thing that would unite queer people and straight men? But if this is the first step in a sea change that allows more gay people to live out loud and proud, we're all for it! You might even call it a game changer.
