Heated Rivalry Star Says They're Filming 12 Episodes This Time
Heated Rivalry may be returning to the ice for twice as many episodes.
The mega-popular hockey romance series, which airs on Crave in Canada and HBO Max in the U.S, is based on the Game Changers novels by Rachel Reid. It follows the torrid love affair between rival hockey stars Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). Season 1 spent six episodes tracking their burgeoning romance from their rookie season in 2008 through the summer of 2017, also featuring a love story between two supporting characters: hockey legend Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and smoothie shop worker Kip Grady (Robbie G.K.). Heated Rivalry season 2 is currently in production.
Kip and Scott were the main characters of the first book in the six-book series, Game Changer, while Ilya and Shane didn't step into the spotlight until book 2, which was also titled Heated Rivalry.
On August 6, TikTok user @theawkoturtle shared a Cameo video from Dylan Walsh, who plays Shane's father, David Hollander. In addition to delivering a birthday message from a friend, Walsh revealed that he was about to travel to the set of Heated Rivalry season 2. He said that "[I'm] getting ready to go back up to Canada and shoot some more episodes… I think we’re doing 12 this time.”
While this episode count has not been officially confirmed, Walsh has removed the option for fans to purchase Cameo videos from his profile. Entertainment Weekly reports that a since-removed note on the profile read “Stepping away because a video went viral that got me in trouble," and said that he would be unavailable to make videos until August 2027, which would most likely be after the finale of season 2, which is set to debut in the spring of 2027.
While that time frame has also been removed from Walsh's profile, it remains closed for personalized videos, though 530 fans have joined the waitlist for more videos from the actor. See the full Cameo video below:
This Cameo shutdown would seem to indicate that there is some truth to what Walsh said about the production preparing to shoot 12 episodes. However, it seems somewhat unlikely that season 2 will have twice the number of episodes as Heated Rivalry season 1, because creator Jacob Tierney told the Los Angeles Times earlier this year that "I don’t need to do 10 [episodes]. I would always rather tighten the belt than get loosey-goosey."
If they are really shooting a dozen episodes, it is possible that the team is filming two seasons back-to-back. Should that be the case, it is possible that the book that forms the core spine of season 2 - the Shane and Ilya sequel The Long Game, which is the sixth novel in the series - will be split into two parts. Another option is that they are already adapting the unpublished seventh book (and the third to star Shane and Ilya), Unrivaled, which isn't set to debut until June 1, 2027.
While season 1 covered two entire Game Changers novels over the course of six episodes, it makes sense that the show could potentially follow that by splitting The Long Game in half. One reason this is possible is that the new season is adding even more storylines. François Arnaud told Out that Scott and Kip would be returning in season 2, which means they will likely be given more prominence in the new season than they do in the other books.
Additionally, the season is already set to bring in elements from the fifth book, Role Model, as the two lead characters from that story have officially joined the Heated Rivalry cast. Justice Smith (I Saw the TV Glow, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves) will play Ottawa Centaurs social media manager Harris Drover while Charlie Gillespie (Julie and the Phantoms, One Night Only) is set to portray recently traded player Troy Barrett.
Ultimately, it remains to be seen exactly how many episodes Heated Rivalry season 2 gets and how the season ends. Because the season only recently went into production, there is so far no footage that indicates how far into the story the new season intends to delve.