What you need to know about Heated Rivalry, the steamy hockey romance everyone's talking about
Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams and Ilya Rozanov, played by Connor Storrie (Sabrina Lantos/Sky/PA)
A steamy six-part drama about a secret fling between two hockey rivals is to air on this side of the Atlantic after it became a streaming hit in the US and Canada.
which has been adapted from a book series by Rachel Reid, has been praised by viewers for its portrayal of gay romance.
Here is what you need to know about the show:
The HBO series follows rival hockey players Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams, and Ilya Rozanov, played by Connor Storrie, as they begin a secret romance.
The drama takes place over eight years as the pair chase glory on the ice while navigating complicated romantic feelings in their private lives.
There are a lot of explicit scenes in the series and Williams told US LGBT+ magazine that sex has “a huge place in storytelling” when “handled the right way”.
Storrie is from the US but has a Russian accent for the series and told the magazine he would be in the accent every day on set “until we called cut on the last shot”.
Canadian actor Williams, 24, who has starred in a number of TV series, and US actor Storrie, 25, who has credits in and play the main characters.
The drama also stars Canadian actors Francois Arnaud, Robbie Graham-Kuntz, Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova and Sophie Nelisse, as well as US stars Christina Chang and Dylan Walsh.
The show is based on a series of books about hockey and queer romance, written by Reid.
Her book, is an enemies-to-lovers story that follows pro hockey star Shane Hollander, captain of the Montreal Voyageurs, as he embarks on a fling with Boston Bears captain Ilya Rozanov.
Heated Rivalry will arrive on Sky and streaming service Now on January 10 in Ireland.
The series was originally created for Canadian streaming service Crave.
It was recently announced that the show will return for a second season.
