Heated Rivalry went from being a tiny low-budget Canadian production to a viral sensation overnight, and with that meteoric rise has come negative backlash from racist fans.
The show that beautifully depicted the yearning, heartache, and queer joy at the center of the rivals-to-lovers gay romance has accumulated a massive fanbase that quickly turned into toxic parasocial relationships with Heated Rivalry's stars.
In a new interview with Deadline, creator Jacob Tierney admitted that both the negative and positive reactions from fans came as a surprise to everyone involved in the show.
"We didn’t expect any of this attention or reaction from a public that might not exist at all," he told the publication. "We’ve learned a lot [since the show aired], and there’s a lot to think about moving forward in terms of the fandom and all that comes with it, negative and positive."
Hudson Williams, who stars as Asian-Canadian hockey captain Shane Hollander as he slowly falls for his Russian rival Ilya Rozanov, has been targeted for his half-Korean heritage. Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova is Russian-Trinidadian and has faced criticism for playing Ilya’s close friend and frequent hookup Svetlana, a character described as being a white European in the book.
François Arnaud, the only openly queer cast member, has also faced backlash because of his bisexuality, despite fans falling in love with a show about queer characters who are forced to stay in the closet out of fear that homophobia will impact their careers.
Williams, Arnaud, and Kharlamova addressed the insidious racism and homophobia in a joint statement released on social media.
"Don’t call yourself a fan if you share racist/homophobic/biphobic/misogynistic/ageist/ableist/parasocial/bigoted comments of any kind," the statement read on William’s Instagram. "None of us need your hateful 'love.' We all respect and support and love each other and are on the same side. If you can’t accept that then gtfoh."
The statement was also reposted by Tierney, Reid, and fellow cast member Robbie G.K. in their own Instagram Stories.
Even with the racist and biphobic comments that the show's supposed fans have hurled at the stars, Tierney thinks having a person of color in a lead role is vital.
“We have a non-white lead. I think that’s fuckin’ important,” he said. “We can learn a few lessons out of that: you don’t need to be making an Asian show to have an Asian lead. Hudson’s a fucking star, man.”
However, the problematic parasocial behavior exhibited by a subset of self-proclaimed fans hasn’t deterred Tierney or the stars from reuniting to make a second season of the beloved show.
Tierney suggested that while Heated Rivalry season two will depict the continuation of Shane and Ilya’s love story from The Long Game (the sixth installment in Reid’s Game Changers queer romance series), it’s unlikely that he’ll fit the whole book — the longest in the series — into a single season of the show.
“Who said I’m doing it all? There’s a lot of material,” he said, teasing the follow-up season, which is set to premiere in April 2027.
The Long Game takes place a few years after the events of Heated Rivalry and focuses on Shane and Ilya in a real relationship, one they are still having to keep hidden, as they deal with long-distance dating, Ilya’s growing depression, and the fears and insecurities both characters face.
Tierney warned that although the characters’ journey “will end happily,” there will be many “ups and downs” first.
“We’re just continuing to give Shane and Ilya the seriousness that this love affair deserves while also continuing to exist within the confines of the genre that we’re in, which I love,” he said. “I want them to be happy, but I also want to show that that’s not easy. Because part of what Rachel does so brilliantly in her writing is to give queerness joy, but also not pretend the world isn’t the world. It’s not like she created this world where it’s like, there’s no homophobia and hockey’s amazing, and anyone can come out. No. She shows it’s difficult, takes courage, guts, and sacrifice, and takes stepping up and saying things with your full chest. And that to me is a triumph. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”
