Heated Rivalry has been everywhere, but despite its success, it’s not going to get an Emmy nomination for one hugely annoying reason.
Since its release late last year, Heated Rivalry has become a viral sensation. Everyone’s talking about the hockey romance and its two super-attractive lead actors: Connor Storrie, who plays Ilya Grigoryevich Rozanov, and Hudson Williams, who plays Shane Hollander. It even has one of the highest-rated episodes of all time on TV, and the Heated Rivalry tag on TikTok has millions of views.
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In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hudson spoke on the show’s success, saying: “People who reach out and privately disclose something about how they don’t really cry during shows or films, and then they’re finally just a wreck during this one. And we’re only three episodes in. Those are just wild to me because, as an actor, as someone who loves stories like these, it’s what you dream of being a part of.”
But despite all this praise, Heated Rivalry won’t be getting any big wins this award season. The first season of the show was distributed by Crave, a Canadian-owned streaming service, and produced by Bell Media, which is also from Canada. Even though it’s available to watch in the US through HBO Max, it’s still too Canadian to qualify for the Primetime Emmys. However, the series is eligible for the International Emmys, which celebrate non-US TV.
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It hasn’t been all love for Heated Rivalry, though, as there’s been a bit of controversy. I Love LA actor Jordan Firstman criticised the sex scenes in Heated Rivalry for being “unrealistic”. François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter in Heated Rivalry, was quick to clap back at these comments.
“Is there only one way to have ‘authentic’ gay sex on TV?” he said in an Instagram Story. “Should the sex that closeted hockey players have look like the sex that sceney LA gay guys have?”
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Featured image via Crave
