Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams has opened up about the real-world impact the show has had, revealing that closeted professional athletes from hockey, football, and basketball have reached out following the show’s global success.
The new TV show – which is officially getting a Season 2 – is based on Rachel Reid’s book of the same name, and centers on Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), two pro ice hockey players on opposing teams who develop a romantic relationship.
Debuting to both commercial and critical acclaim, Heated Rivalry has sparked broader conversations about LGBTQ+ visibility in professional sports, an issue the show places firmly in the spotlight.
Although it’s fictional, the series has clearly resonated beyond the screen, prompting discussions and personal reflections from viewers within elite sports environments – a response that’s surprised even those involved in making the show.
Hudson Williams reveals real impact of Heated Rivalry
Williams appeared on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live on Thursday (January 8), where he revealed that the Heated Rivalry team receives messages from pro athletes who haven’t come out yet.
“It’s definitely the people who reach out, somewhat anonymously, who are like, ‘I’m a professional player and I’m still in the closet,’” he said, before saying that the messages are from athletes across hockey, football, and basketball.
“They’re reaching out to Rachel, our author, who’ll then relay these lovely anonymous emails,” Williams continued.
“And sometimes they’re just reaching out privately through Instagram. Those ones are the ones that really just kind of hit you and [you] go, ‘Oh, this is a fun show and it’s celebratory, but also sometimes it’s just hitting people right in the nerve.’”
Elsewhere in the interview, Williams addressed the comments suggesting that Heated Rivalry is “graphic” in its sex scenes, with Cohen arguing that it wouldn’t receive these comments if the couple were heterosexual.
Williams agreed, “That was something even going in that Jacob [Tierney, showrunner] was very sort of explicit in talking with us, and also just being real with his grievances.
“If this were straight sex scenes, people would be like, ‘Oh, it’s not [graphic].’ We don’t see anything, you know? Like there are no boobs in the show. There’s no d*cks in the show. There’s just a lot of butt…
“If they were straight intimate scenes, it wouldn’t be talked about in that way.”
The interview is one of many from the Heated Rivalry cast that has received praise from the viewers at home, while also sparking discussions on the important topics the new series highlights.
Taking to Reddit, one wrote, “That article is a fantastic read, and I’m not surprised by this at all. I can definitely see how the show would be so relatable for them as Jacob Tierney is an expert at making his shows relatable to the audience.”
Another said, “It’s really sad that LGBT pro athletes still feel like they have to stay in the closet, but I’m not surprised in the least that they do.
“The Seattle Kraken just yesterday posted a few photos of some of their players in Pride jerseys for their upcoming annual pride night, and the amount of absolutely disgusting hate, homophobia, transphobia, bigotry, you name it in response was insane.
“I know it’s wishful thinking, but hopefully this little Canadian hockey show can somehow turn the dial a bit for all of them.”
US releasing 2 Russian crew members of seized oil tanker, Moscow claims