When Heated Rivalry premiered on HBO, it quickly became a pop culture juggernaut, gaining a huge fanbase almost overnight.
That meteoric trajectory has not only meant that people can’t stop talking about the steamy gay hockey romance, but that the stars have been living under a microscope, with both paparazzi and fans following them everywhere they go.
So while the creators try to keep details of the upcoming season under wraps, eagle-eyed fans have been hard at work analyzing every leaked photo of the cast filming season 2.
The fanbase occasionally veers toward toxic and obsessive territory — creator Jacob Tierney even had to tell fans to back off — but in this instance, their encyclopedic knowledge of the show and the Game Changer romance series it’s based on has been a gift.
What will and won’t be included in the second season will remain a mystery until the April 2027 premiere, but fans have plenty of good guesses based on leaked paparazzi photos and fans tracking the filming.
Editor’s note: This article contains spoilers for The Long Game, Tough Guy, and potentially season 2 of Heated Rivalry.
The funeral
A photo of Storrie looking sharp in a black suit and sunglasses is likely from filming the funeral of a fellow hockey player who died by suicide.
Ilya attends the funeral in Tough Guy even though he didn’t know the player, sharing with Ryan that he came because his mother’s death has made him care more about the fact that mental health isn’t talked about enough in hockey.
Coming out
Fans are excited that this photo of Storrie and Charlie Gillespie, who was cast as Troy, filming together means that we’ll probably get the fan-favorite scene from Role Model, where Troy and Ilya come out to each other while walking back to their hotel after going to a gay bar.
This also means we may get more scenes at The Kingfisher, the gay bar that Kip hangs out at in the first season, which Scott Hunter and retired hockey goalie Eric Bennett end up buying.
The Halloween party
A photo of a sleek, modern home claiming to be a filming location for a party scene has fans guessing that it’s Ilya’s house in Ottawa.
This means it could be the site of the Halloween party where Ilya dresses up like a sexy gladiator, and Shane is so turned on by the photo of his costume that he drives all the way from Montreal while wearing a now-infamous sex toy.
The fan mail incident
An extremely blurry photo of Williams and Storrie about to kiss was all it took for fans to guess that the fan mail incident had been filmed.
In this infamous scene, Hayden accidentally outs Ilya and Shane when he makes a Cameo-like video for a fan and doesn’t realize that he caught a kiss between the hockey stars through the window he was standing in front of.
Talking to Cromwell
Fans think this photo of Storrie and Williams standing together in suits could be mean that they have already filmed the scene toward the end of The Long Game where Shane and Ilya go talk to Hockey Commissioner Roger Cromwell after they were accidentally outed.
Shane then takes Ilya to a restaurant that serves Ilya’s favorite meal, chicken parmesan, and fans think this second photo of Williams wearing the same suit but with the tie removed could be Shane leaving the restaurant.
The haircut
After photos of actor Daniel Diemer, who was cast as Ryan Price, with a curly wig started circulating around social media, some fans were upset that he didn’t look better, but people who read Tough Guy know that it’s all part of the plot.
After reconnecting with his teenage crush Fabian, Ryan starts embracing his queer identity and decides to spruce up his look by buying a new wardrobe, trimming his beard, and getting a new stylish haircut. So the fact that there are photos of Daniel with two very different hairstyles likely means they’ve already filmed the makeover.
Fabian's concert
These filming photos of Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi, have fans guessing that they were filming Ryan and Fabian walking after Fabian’s concert in Role Model, which proved to be a pivotal moment in Troy and Harris’ relationship.
It could also be Fabian’s concert in The Long Game, where Shane and Ilya start realizing how much they hate hiding their love.
The emergency landing
Leaked photos of Williams filming a scene in Ontario, where he’s holding a cell phone and looking upset, are all the proof some fans needed to guess that the actor has already filmed the scene where he finds out that Ilya's plane nearly crashed and he runs off his team bus to call Ilya.
The proposal
Some fans have read the Game Changer books so many times that when a photo of Williams wearing slacks and a navy blue sweater started circulating online, they immediately knew it was the scene where Shane proposes to Ilya in The Long Game because they remembered one line: “It opened as soon as he reached it, and there was Shane, looking perfect in nice pants and a soft dark blue sweater.”
The ring
Not only are we just about guaranteed to see the proposal scene — and hopefully the frotting scene that follows — but this photo of Williams wearing a ring on a chain has fans thinking we’ll also get to see the scene where Ilya first notices Shane is wearing his engagement ring around his neck while the two men face off on the ice.
