What have you been furiously binge-watching lately, and why is it Heated Rivalry?
If you have been living under a rock the last few months, you might have missed the chatter around the seriously hot six-part series about the romance between two professional ice hockey players, Ilya Rozanov, played by Connor Storrie, and Shane Hollander, played by Hudson Williams, who are rivals in a fictitious league and become lovers.
If you’ve completed all the episodes, read the books and stalked through the two lead actors’ Instagrams an unhealthy amount, you’ll be delighted to know the series has been picked up for another season that will air in September this year.
While it would be ridiculous for production company Crave not to renew it, given its huge popularity and, thankfully, Deadline has now confirmed the news.
Reacting to the confirmation, fans couldn’t help but gush over the news. One person squealed: “… I love these two men so f**king much. Need s2 asap, inject that s**t into my veins.”
Another viewer added: “Binged watched #heatedrivalry and honestly need season 2 now! Great show and definitely hooked.”
While a third user penned: “Amazing, I can't wait for season 2. Beautiful, emotional, exhilarating, a perfect love story.”
So what could be next for the second round? Rather than follow the Game Changers series of books by Rachel Reid, the first season was actually based on the second book, which is also called Heated Rivalry.
It also has a little of the first novel, which centres on Scott Hunter and Kip Grady. For those in the know, Shane and Ilya's story continues in the sixth book, The Long Game.
Earlier this month, Hudson Williams appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, where he teased just what might happen.
He told the host: “There are some meanies, there are some big baddies. If season one is like an internal battle, season two is more of an external battle.” To cap it off, he joked: “They all die.”
Ahead of season two, the showrunner, Jacob Tierney, said the team didn’t want to rush it. Back in December, he told Entertainment Weekly: “We’re gonna go as fast as we can, while ensuring that we’re doing as good a job as we possibly can.”
We know Williams and Storrie have signed up for three seasons, so it might be that Tierney mixes up the books again, and we jump to the last book, where big things happen.
If you’re not into spoilers, look away now, as this is the synopsis of the sixth instalment.
It reads… “Ten years. That’s how long Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been seeing each other. How long they’ve been keeping their relationship a secret. From friends, from family…from the league. If Shane wants to stay at the top of his game, what he and Ilya share has to remain secret. He loves Ilya, but what if going public ruins everything?
“Ilya is sick of secrets. Shane has gotten so good at hiding his feelings, sometimes Ilya questions if they even exist. The closeness, the intimacy, even the risk that would come with being open about their relationship… Ilya wants it all. It’s time for them to decide what’s most important - hockey or love. It’s time to make a call.”
It could make sense to continue Ilya and Shane’s love story while including some lines from other books that would enable the series to continue after them. Whatever happens, we can’t wait!