The 2026 telecast of New Year's Eve Live on CNN was once again cohosted by BFFs Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen. And, as it is the case every single year, Cohen took every single chance he had to tease his friend and cohost, who tried to keep up while also drinking just as much as the Bravo executive and talk show host.
For years now, Cohen and Cooper have proven to be a hilarious pair of actual BFFs who tease each other mercilessly and are ready to argue over silly nonsense at any given time. Well, it turns out that this rather humorless 2025 ended with one of the funniest NYE broadcasts for the cable news network in recent years.
Perhaps even more shockingly, one particular topic was top of mind all night long, getting referenced at least four times by the cohosts of this New Year's Eve Live broadcast to ring in 2026: Heated Rivalry.
Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper discuss who's the Ilya and Shane between them.
Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper during the 2026 telecast of New Year's Eve Live on CNN.
CNN
As the drinking kept going all night, Cooper told Cohen that there was "something about sleeping in your bed… It just, I don't know," suggesting that he felt odd about it.
"The bed frame," Cohen argued. "I didn't give you the mattress."
Cooper insisted, "Well, I know. But I don't know. I just…"
"I thought that it made us like closer," Cohen interrupted, teasing Cooper. "Like better brothers, or something."
Cooper laughed. "This isn't Heated Rivalry," he added.
"Oooh, Heated Rivalry!" Cohen teased. The mere mention of the popular gay hockey show was enough to fill his head with hundreds of ideas about how to tease Cooper about it. Cohen put on a soothing voice, "Ilya…" as he jokingly caressed Cooper's arm.
But an even better idea occurred to him just then. "Who's the two of us?!" Cohen asked, who then immediately answered his own question. "You're Ilya, and I'm Shane."
"What?!" Cooper reacted, adding: "I'm not either of them. I'm Kip."
You've heard it, folks (and here's a video re-shared by an X user to prove it): Cooper identified himself as a Kip Grady, who was played by actor Robbie G.K. on the Heated Rivalry TV show. Banana smoothies, anyone?
Do lesbians care about Heated Rivalry? Andy Cohen asks Brandi Carlile, and Anderson Cooper loses his mind.
Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper during the 2026 telecast of New Year's Eve Live on CNN, interviewing Brandi Carlile.
CNN
The 2026 telecast of New Year's Eve Live on CNN went on to feature lesbian singer-songwriter Brandi Carlile in a segment flippantly called "Do! Lesbians! Give a damn?!" helmed by Andy Cohen. As expected, Anderson Cooper only laughed harder every time that the back and forth between Cohen and Carlile got more chaotic.
"Do lesbians care about Heated Rivalry, or is it just the strictly dickly?" Cohen quizzed Carlile.
Carlile deadpanned her response, "It's all I can think about. I can't even sleep at night without thinking about it."
"Really?!" Cohen actually asked. "Really?" Cooper did, too.
Carlile laughed, which got Cooper started… and then some.
An X user shared a video of this moment between Cooper and Carlile, which prompted Cooper to just keep laughing, and laughing, and laughing for the rest of their interview. (Carlile even answered Cohen's next question, about Katy Perry, while Cooper was still laughing out loud in the background, to Carlile's amusement.)
Stephen Colbert is a 'bossy bottom,' which gags Anderson Cooper beyond belief: 'Is this the Heated Rivalry effect?!'
Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper during the 2026 telecast of New Year's Eve Live on CNN, interviewing Stephen Colbert and his wife Evelyn McGee-Colbert.
CNN
Perhaps the best interview of the 2026 telecast of New Year's Eve Live on CNN was with The Late Show host Stephen Colbert. Their conversation covered a wide range of topics from politics, to the holidays, to… You guessed it: Heated Rivalry! But it didn't start there, to be fair.
As Evelyn McGee-Colbert — Stephen's wife — joined the interview, Andy Cohen teased Anderson Cooper saying that Evelyn "is the top of their relationship, I found out."
"Oh my god, what is that… What?" an earnestly confused Cooper asked.
"It's true," Stephen Colbert replied, "but I'm a bossy bottom."
Cooper reacted by putting his hands up, as if giving up.
Cohen loved the response and repeated it enthusiastically: "Yes! Stephen Colbert is a bossy bottom." Cohen then faked-covered his mouth, looked at the camera, and pointed at Cooper, saying: "You're not the only one…"
"Has Heated Rivalry made everybody insane?!" Cooper asked, perhaps literally, but also rhetorically. "Is this the Heated Rivalry effect?! What's going on?!"
Colbert replied, "I guess so."
Cooper talked about another mind-blowing scenario running through his head: Colbert speaking to him in Russian (as the Heated Rivalry character Ilya Rozanov does). A video of this moment was re-shared via X.
Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper chime in on Connor Storrie's ass.
Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen subsequently played a game of "agree/disagree," and one of the questions was whether they could work out hard enough to have an ass like a hockey player — particularly a Russian one — from Heated Rivalry.
Both Cohen and Cooper immediately raised the "disagree" signs and shook their heads while admitting defeat that they couldn't possibly have an ass like actors Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams.
During the game, the cohosts were joined by actor and writer B.J. Novak (The Office), who also held up the "disagree" sign. When asked about his answer, Novak noted that he didn't know the exact reference but was familiar enough with the topic to know that this was an impossible feat.
For context, this question referenced a scene from Heated Rivalry episode 1 in which actors Connor Storrie (as Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov) and Hudson Williams (as Canadian hockey player Shane Hollander) took a horny side by side shower in the locker room and exchanged their first few glances while cruising each other.
While both Storrie and Williams were praised for their behinds, Storrie's ass was intensely re-shared on social media and went on to break the internet with lust, fascination, and wonder.
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov on Heated Rivalry.
Crave/HBO MaxHeated Rivalry is an original production from Crave Canada and is available for streaming on HBO Max for U.S. viewers. Despite only having one season so far, this is undoubtedly one of the most successful queer TV shows of all time, going on to break several records for HBO Max, Crave, and the original Game Changers novels by Rachel Reid that inspired the TV adaptation.
With Jacob Tierney a showrunner, Heated Rivalry season 2 has already been confirmed by Crave and will see the return of lead actors Williams and Storrie reprising their roles as Shane and Ilya.
A live feed of CNN is available for streaming on CNN.com. Heated Rivalry is streaming on HBO Max.
