Bold and at times brilliant, Heated Rivalry playing on Sky, wears its queer colours with pride and scores a hat trick of goals in its lead performances, sexual chemistry and sheer spunkiness.
Hiding who you are and living two lives, one public and one private, is exhausting. Over time, it drains you, changes you, creates fear, and leads to a crisis of identity. LGBTQ+ people know this reality because most of us at some point have lived it, some for a few years during our teens, and others for decades. Over the years, the time spent living this double life may have decreased in some countries as society changed and acceptance grew. But that’s not a universal experience for many LGBTQ+ people, and many factors, even in Western societies, impact a person’s ability to live their life and love freely.
In the world of elite sports, barriers remain firmly in place regarding sexuality despite progress in some disciplines such as Swimming and Diving. From Football to Tennis and Ice Hockey, “no one can know” has remained firmly in place despite a select few high-profile players’ coming out. Jacob Tierney’s Heated Rivalry, based on Rachel Reid’s novels, understands these challenges and reflects on the persistent barriers in sports. But even more importantly, in a world where some leaders continue to erase LGBTQ+ identities free from challenge, this effervescent, engaging, and intuitive Canadian drama scores more than a few goals in placing adult gay drama back on the map.
Much has been made of the steamy sex scenes, chisled bodies, and secret hotel rendezvous in Tierney’s Heated Rivalry. While these scenes are to be celebrated and will no doubt pull in viewers, much as Queer as Folk UK and USA did years before, they are not the heart of this six-part series’ strengths. Heated Rivalry’s real strengths lie in the quiet, less steamy moments where defences come down, and truth and vulnerability are allowed to enter the rink.
Opening in 2008, Heated Rivalry introduces us to Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), a young, rising Canadian hockey star, and his enigmatic rival, Russian player Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), who plays for Boston. Tierney wastes no time in establishing the electricity between the two, which quickly leads to a hot, horny, and risky friends-with-benefits relationship away from the rink. Both know this secret could, in theory, end their careers, but the risk is worth every second they spend exploring each other’s bodies. However, sex is rarely just sex, especially when it becomes a regular thing over months, then years. Emotions always invade in the end, and truths become hard to navigate when you are living a double life on and off the rink.
For Shane, Ilya is far more than a fuck buddy as he struggles to navigate his ‘perfect’ media image, the expectations of his parents and managers, and his need for Ilya’s love. While for Ilya, his feelings and emotions are imprisoned by his Russian identity and passport. Here, his options for freedom are limited as a foreign player, as his home country falls under the grip of Putin’s increasing homophobia, oppression, and control.
As time marches on, and we speedily pass through years of games, tournaments, and a controversial winter Olympics in Sochi, as Putin introduced new laws curtailing the LGBTQ+ community, both Hollander and Rozanov must decide where their feelings truly lie. And they are not the only ones facing this choice, as the older New York player, Scott Hunter (François Arnaud), faces his own life-changing decision.
Williams and Storrie make this drama tick from the opening scenes to the last, with a truly electric on-screen chemistry. Sex scenes are not only hot, but feel genuine, with the quiet moments after each bedroom tussle full of guilt, honesty and vulnerability. Jacob Tierney’s direction thrives on exploring the light and shade of Hollander and Rozanov’s heated rivalry and loving embrace, as their secretive text messages over the years, sent under female aliases, act as the only link between the public and private worlds they inhabit.
IIya’s story, in particular, carries moments of intense dramatic power and emotion, as Tierney explores the force of state oppression even when its citizens live in a country beyond that control. Llya knows that without permanent citizenship in the US or Canada, he will eventually have to return to his motherland. Storrie beautifully explores this internal battle through Ilya’s actions and the persona he has created, which Hollander knows is a shield for self-protection.
Not everything in Tierney’s drama works. Some story arcs feel rushed and exist purely to serve Hollander and Rozanov’s journey, which is a pity, as while these side stories are beautifully realised, they also carry untapped potential due to time constraints. Equally, the fast pace sees years fly by rather too quickly for my liking, creating a feeling of two seasons of content stuffed into a single six-episode run. For a show about Ice Hockey, there is also a distinct lack of gameplay, which could have further upped the tension and explored life on the rink and the emotions and pressures attached for both players.
Despite these flaws, I defy anyone not to be swept away by Shane and Ilya’s love story, and in a world where gay rights are under threat around the globe, including in many Western countries once deemed safe, Heated Rivalry is the tonic we all need. Bold and at times brilliant, Heated Rivalry wears its queer colours with pride and scores a hat trick of goals in its lead performances, sexual chemistry and sheer spunkiness. While many American production companies shelve LGBTQ+ stories due to growing conservatism, Heated Rivalry reminds us that Canada remains a shining light for diversity, inclusion, and proudly queer storytelling.
Stream Heated Rivalry on Sky and NOW TV from January 10.
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