Connor Storrie Reveals ‘Heated Rivalry’ Season 2 Filming Update: Everything We Know So Far

Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov’s (Connor Storrie) love story in Heated Rivalry is far from over. Before Season 1 of the gay hockey romance series even wrapped, Crave and HBO Max renewed the show for Season 2. As the Heated Rivalry drought continues, Storrie was able to share a new update about the show’s filming schedule.

Heated Rivalry’s popularity continues to grow (we’re getting a third Shane and Ilya book!), and we’ve all been wondering when the cast and crew will assemble to adapt Rachel Reid’s Heated Rivalry sequel, The Long Game. When will we get Season 2? Will we have to endure a long wait? Here’s the full guide to everything Swooon knows about Heated Rivalry Season 2, including plot details, returning cast members, and more.

When will Heated Rivalry Season 2 start filming?

On January 14, Storrie shared an update about Season 2’s status on Today. “I think Jacob’s still writing [Season 2]. I think we’re gonna be filming soon, I don’t know when exactly,” he said. When asked if he thought filming would begin this summer, the actor answered, “Yeah, I think about then.”

Tierney also confirmed that he was aiming to start production by the end of summer 2026, per GQ.

When will Heated Rivalry Season 2 premiere?

Based on the production timeline, Heated Rivalry will likely return to HBO Max and Crave sometime in 2027. “It can’t be same time next year, because this time last year I’d written five of these, and this time this year I’ve written zero of them,” Tierney explained to Variety. “So it’s going to be a little bit later, but it’s still going to be soon.”

He continued, “We understand that everybody’s goal is to not do two years between seasons. And at the same time, I don’t want to put out a rushed sh*tty second season just because the show is very popular. But we’re very aware that our creative partners are enthusiastic and don’t want to wait too long. We’re getting back to work!”

That development comes after the official Heated Rivalry Instagram account announced Season 2 on December 12, 2025, with Williams and Storrie reading a passage from The Long Game. “We’re so excited by the reception our characters have received,” Williams began. Storrie chimed in, “And we cannot wait to get back into production and explore where Shane and Ilya go in Season 2.”

 

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An additional video of Tierney breaking the exciting news to the leads was also released.

Jacob and Brendan telling Hudson and Connor about the shows renewal via heatedrivalrytv on Instagram ❤️‍🔥🏒 #heatedrivalry pic.twitter.com/oGX15GsSMC

— Heated Rivalry Updates (@H_R_Updates) December 12, 2025

Crave is set to produce the series again, while HBO Max will continue to serve as a distributor. According to Deadline, the steamer is “now striking deals with program distributor Sphere Abacus for more territories.”

Who will be in the Heated Rivalry Season 2 cast?

Williams and Storrie will reprise their roles, but the renewal announcement didn’t offer any additional casting details. We have yet to find out if Francois Arnaud and Robbie G.K. will return as Scott and Kip, or if any other familiar faces, including Sophie Nélisse (Rose), Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova (Svetlana), or Dylan Walsh and Christina Chang (Shane’s parents), will appear.

Though they didn’t yet know if they would return for another season at the time, Arnaud and G.K. spoke to Swooon about where they wanted to see their characters’ story go in Season 2.

“I think that there could be a world in which, after all this dies down, real life sets in and things are difficult,” G.K. said. “I think that there’s a lot of bridges to cross where it’s, like, the reality. It’s one thing for to Scott to have this one moment of, ‘You know what? I’m going to do this,’ but there’s so much more that I’m sure happens in his life, happens in Kip’s life, all these things that will essentially explode after this one particular moment.”

Arnaud also told Glamour, “I heard, like, months ago, before the show even came out, that the producers were interested in a potential spin-off [about Scott and Kip], so who knows? I don’t know if it’s now. I don’t know if it’s season two. I don’t know if it’s season three.”

Though there’s no confirmation if Season 2 will follow the source material exactly, Reid’s books give us some idea about which characters will show up again and which new ones will be added to the mix. (More on that below.)

What will Heated Rivalry Season 2 be about?

There were no plot details revealed with the renewal announcement, but in an announcement video, Storrie did say to “start reading The Long Game if you want to spoil it for yourself.” At the Golden Globes, Williams revealed that he’s most excited to adapt the steamy trophy room scene in Season 2. Read on for a breakdown of the sequel story, without delving too far into spoiler territory.

The games not over.

Season 2 of #HeatedRivalry is coming to HBO Max. pic.twitter.com/CwoTu9LuTl

— HBO Max (@hbomax) December 12, 2025

Will Heated Rivalry Season 2 follow The Long Game?

[Warning: The below contains spoilers for Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid.]

Bell Media

Tierney confirmed he’ll adapt The Long Game in an interview with Swooon. He’s optioned all of the books in Reid’s Game Changers series, per c21 Media.

Season 1 doesn’t include the epilogue from Reid’s Heated Rivalry, so beware of spoilers for the first book ahead. Heated Rivalry ends with Shane and Ilya confessing their love, committing to being together, and making a long-term plan. It comes to fruition in the epilogue’s year time jump: They’re keeping their relationship a secret until they retire, but Ilya switches teams to be closer to Shane. He leaves Boston for Ottawa. They also start a charity together, revealing their “friendship” to the world in the process.

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‘Heated Rivalry' Season 2: A Guide to Shane & Ilya’s Spiciest Scenes in 'The Long Game'

Heated Rivalry gives Shane and Ilya a happy ending, but the angst doesn’t disappear entirely in The Long Game. The second book takes place a decade after they first met, and their relationship still isn’t public. The hockey-obsessed Shane doesn’t feel any desire to make their relationship known, lest it affect his career. Ilya, on the other hand, is ready to stop hiding, and the sneaking around is taking a toll on him. The two have to decide what’s more important: hockey or love.

“We’re going through time so quickly in this story, but The Long Game is so much more focused on the Centaurs and is a bit more settled into, I think, a two-year period, so I think that it will give us time to explore a bit more of the universe,” Tierney told Swooon. “And also to get to know more people that we know a bit: Hayden and Jackie and J.J. and the people that are on Shane’s team.”

He continued, “But certainly, I’m excited to meet all of the fond members of the Ottawa Centaurs, including any new players that happen to show up there and maybe their social media manager…and who knows, all kinds of stuff.”

How many episodes will be in Heated Rivalry Season 2?

Bell Media, the company behind the series, confirmed that they’ve been discussing the vision for Heated Rivalry with Tierney. “What shape that takes — how many seasons can we get out of the Shane and Ilya story versus what else could be sprinkled in or is that this series or is that another series — we haven’t really answered yet,” BellMedia’s VP of content Justin Stockman told The Ankler before its renewal. “The more the better, but we want every episode to be as good as the ones that have been created so far.”

The show has a lot of ground to cover with The Long Game, so could that mean the story will span over more than six episodes, which is what Season 1 got, next time around? “We are open to as many will suit the creative,” was Stockman’s answer.

What are your Season 2 predictions? Let us know in the comments below!

Heated Rivalry, Season 2, TBA, Crave & HBO Max