Tough luck if you prefer your romcoms PG-rated, or ice hockey leaves you cold: there is no escaping Heated Rivalry. The steamy coming-of-age series has been a sensation in North America, making instant stars of its leads as producers rush to make more of it. It’s hard to remember the last TV show to spark such a furore, let alone one from Canada’s “Crave network”. So who are the young men at the centre of the frenzy – and how are they coping with all that thirst?

1. From waiting tables …

Heated Rivalry is about the down-low romance between two hockey players: the Canadian good-guy Shane Hollander, played by 24-year-old Hudson Williams, and the Russian Ilya Rozanov, played by real-life Texan Connor Storrie, 25. You might recognise Storrie from the 2024 film Joker: Folie à Deux (his character kills Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker), but neither actor looked earmarked for huge fame. Both were waiting tables when they came to audition for Heated Rivalry. Storrie wasn’t having much luck at that, either. During an appearance on the Today Show, Storrie told the story of how, on the day he learned he’d landed the part in Heated Rivalry, he’d received a dressing-down from his manager: “I messed up a table so bad.” Production on the series began about a week later.

2 … to the toast of Tinseltown

After premiering in Canada in late November, Heated Rivalry was soon picked up by HBO Max and swiftly became the platform’s “top-rated live-action acquisition ever”, according to a profile of the actors in GQ. HBO’s CEO Casey Bloys explained in that same story: “When somebody says there’s a gay hockey show with explicit sex scenes, you go, ‘Great, I want to look at that.’” The two stars’ rise to fame has been so rapid, they’re reportedly still living with their families while navigating what’s been likened to “One Direction-level fandom”. Even A-listers are starstruck. Though not nominated at Monday’s Golden Globes, Storrie and Williams received a rapturous response as presenters and were seated at a front table with Charli xcx and Hamnet stars Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley. “The buzz the whole night, and I’m not exaggerating, was ‘They’re coming! They’re coming!’” host Gayle King told Williams on the Golden Globes red carpet on Monday. “Yeah, we do that a lot,” he quipped. At a star-studded Chanel party last week, Storrie was reportedly “thee crush of the night” and mobbed for selfies. Actor Tessa Thompson even singled him out in her speech: “Everybody wants to meet you.” And Williams drew hundreds, if not thousands of screaming fans to his recent taping of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, earning comparisons to the turnout for Harry Styles. He went on to overshadow the stars of Industry at their own season premiere.

3. Everyone’s shipping #Hollanov

The show, based on the Game Changers novels by Rachel Reid, has been hailed as groundbreaking representation: Shane is Asian-Canadian, Ilya is bisexual and both characters are closeted. While queer audiences celebrate a same-sex on-screen love story (and thirst over its Adonis-like leads), Heated Rivalry has also been embraced by straight women seeking escapist romance and non-problematic poster boys. Gay bars have been hosting public screenings, while fans are throwing private “watch parties”, “basking in collective horniness” (Woman & Home’s phrasing, to be clear). Meanwhile, fancams, memes and other online tributes to the “Hollanov” pairing have kept the buzz going well beyond the six-episode run time: Williams and Storrie now have more than 2 million followers on Instagram. The young stars themselves seem to be taking their sudden fame and their lusty fandom in their stride. “Thank you for tweeting about our butts,” Storrie told hordes of fans at a West Hollywood gay bar.

4. Sex still sells

As much as some fans want to believe Storrie and Williams are really together, neither actor has spoken publicly about their sexuality. Series creator Jacob Tierney, who is himself gay, has defended their right to privacy, saying they were cast for their “enthusiasm and willingness to do the work”. Storrie has said that, before shooting the show’s many sex scenes, he and Williams agreed they were game for “the most extreme form of kissing … the least amount of clothing … [and] doing anything outside of having actual sex”. But while viewers might have been initially attracted by Heated Rivalry’s “smutty” reputation, the real-life chemistry between its charismatic stars is holding their attention. “We just love each other very dearly,” said Williams. They even have matching tattoos reading “sex sells”. Storrie’s is outlined in a heart; Williams’ is on his upper thigh.

5. They’re helping men out of the closet

All titillation aside, Heated Rivalry has been celebrated for sparking an important conversation about institutionalised homophobia within professional sports. Recently, on Andy Cohen’s podcast, Williams said he’s received “so many messages” from closeted queer athletes. The show has even helped at least one make the leap. On Wednesday, Jesse Kortuem, a league hockey player from Minnesota, publicly came out as gay, crediting the show with giving him the courage. “Never in my life did I think something so positive and loving could come from such a masculine sport,” he told Out magazine. A reality show inspired by Heated Rivalry is also in the works, with casting currently under way to find “The Avengers of gay hockey” for an unscripted series.

6 … and shining the spotlight on hockey

Brock McGillis, the first professional hockey player to publicly come out as gay, earlier disagreed “wholeheartedly” with the suggestion that Heated Rivalry could help closeted players to come out, because homophobia was so enshrined in the sport it was “more likely to have an adverse effect”. If “hockey bros” were watching the show, “I don’t think … they’re talking about it positively”, McGillis told PinkNews in December. Conservative commentators have duly spoken out against the show, calling it “pornographic smut” and claiming that its success and real-world relevance have been overblown. Author Rachel Reid is in fact a lifelong hockey fan and wrote Heated Rivalry to explore her ambivalence about exclusion and misconduct in the sport. The National Hockey League, at least, seems just happy to be in the conversation. “In the NHL’s 108-year history, this might be the most unique driver for creating new fans,” a rep told the Hollywood Reporter. On Thursday, Canada’s heritage minister praised Heated Rivalry for showcasing the national sport and its “great plot”, though he warned: “It is racy. People have to be ready for that.”

7. Heated Rivalry is only heating up

The show’s runaway success has fast-tracked production of season two. On Wednesday, Storrie said he expected filming to begin “soon”, prompting speculation of a 2027 release date. Reid also confirmed this week that a third book will be published in September, revisiting Hollanov “now they’re out, married and even playing on the same team”. She’s also considering writing a musical. For Storrie and Williams, it points to a long game ahead. They’ve already been tirelessly promoting the show, taking talkshow hosts through their favourite stretches, fielding questions about their glute-boosting workouts (“I think legs are super-important,” said Storrie), and lifting the lid on their skincare routines. Just on Monday night, Storrie flew straight from the Golden Globes afterparty to New York to tape Late Night With Seth Meyers. “I said hello to Parker Posey, then got on a plane,” he said. As the Cut concluded, “no one in Hollywood is working harder”. But how long can they keep it going?

Intense fandoms can prove a burden as much as a blessing, and there are already signs of parasocial behaviour brewing. Meanwhile, both stars have their own projects on the backburner. Williams has co-directed a short film, and has publicly been lobbying for a part in the upcoming live adaptation of DC’s Teen Titans, while Storrie has his own feature in the pipeline, “about an alien spirit that incarnates into a human body”. That was how he spent his Heated Rivalry wages, he told Interview magazine, having figured “it was only a matter of months until I’d have to go get another serving job again”. Now it seems unlikely that Storrie and Williams will ever go back to waiting tables and working in kitchens. But only time will tell if they can handle the heat.