"Heated Rivalry" Creator Reacts to Questions About Stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie's Sexuality Julia MooreDecember 2, 2025 at 10:02 PM 0 HBO Max Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in 'Heated Rivalry' Heated Rivalry is a new hockey romance series adapted from Rachel Reid's 2019 novel starring Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as rival hockey players The series' creator Jacob Tierney has praised the actors' "insane" chemistry onscreen New episodes drop Fridays on HBO Max Heated Rivalry is the hottest new show on TV, and its two stars are responsible f...
- - "Heated Rivalry" Creator Reacts to Questions About Stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie's Sexuality
Julia MooreDecember 2, 2025 at 10:02 PM
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HBO Max
Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in 'Heated Rivalry' -
Heated Rivalry is a new hockey romance series adapted from Rachel Reid's 2019 novel starring Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as rival hockey players
The series' creator Jacob Tierney has praised the actors' "insane" chemistry onscreen
New episodes drop Fridays on HBO Max
Heated Rivalry is the hottest new show on TV, and its two stars are responsible for that.
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie star in the series, which was adapted from Rachel Reid's 2019 book of the same name, as rival hockey players who can't escape their chemistry over the course of several years of their careers. Following the first two-episode drop on HBO Max on Nov. 28, interest in the two actors has skyrocketed, but creator Jacob Tierney has made it clear that their boundaries must be respected.
In an interview with Xtra, Tierney said there isn't "any reason to get into" Williams and Storrie's real-life sexuality, as he instead shifted the focus to how well they played Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie).
"You can't ask questions like that when you're casting, right? It's actually against the law," Tierney said of the actors' sexuality.
"So what you have to gauge is somebody's enthusiasm and willingness to do the work. And that's what's so impressive about both of these guys is they came into this being like, 'Yeah, we're here to do this, and we are here to make this story feel authentic and to be as real as possible.' And they f------ hit it out of the park."
HBO Max
Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in 'Heated Rivalry'
Their "chemistry was just insane," Tierney continued. "It was always going to be about chemistry. We loved both of them separately and then seeing them together, it was just like perfection. We couldn't ask for more."
The chemistry between Williams, 24, and Storrie, 25, was so palpable during the audition process, in fact, that Williams made an unforgettable comment about Storrie. "There was an inexplicable X-factor that just felt realer than what I thought it could possibly be," Williams told Out Magazine of his initial impression of his costar.
Tierney recalled exactly what Williams said. "Hudson told me, 'The other guy was good, but Connor felt like he was going to pin me down and f--- me.'"
Storrie didn't make quite as memorable a comment as his costar did, but he told the outlet of his memories of the audition process, "Hudson was the third actor that I read with. The first two, I was like, 'Okay, this is cool,' and then Hudson came on. Jacob actually texted me directly and was like, 'What do you think?' And I was like, 'Yeah, Hudson, for sure.' Instantly."
HBO Max
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in 'Heated Rivalry'
The pair were then "essentially cast at the same time," Tierney said. "It was very clear to us that we needed to find Shane and Ilya together. This show lives and dies with them, so we needed to make sure that this worked together," he told the outlet. "You need to find the people who are going to be together in the same show, and that's what the two of them had quite instantly."
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The show, which was first created for Canadian streaming service Crave, follows Shane and Ilya, "two of the biggest stars in Major League Hockey, bound by ambition, rivalry, and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands," per the official synopsis.
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in 'Heated Rivalry'
"What begins as a secret fling between two fresh-faced rookies evolves into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery. Over the next eight years, the pair chase glory on the ice while struggling to navigate their feelings off it," the synopsis continues. "Torn between the sport they live for and the love they can't ignore, Shane and Ilya must decide if there is room in their fiercely competitive world for something as fragile and as powerful as real love."
The first two episodes of Heated Rivalry are now streaming on HBO Max. New episodes drop Fridays.
on People
Source: "AOL Entertainment"
Source: Entertainment
Published: December 02, 2025 at 06:45PM on Source: ANDY MAG
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