Hudson Williams has opened up about the positive impact Heated Rivalry has had on real-life athletes.
On 7 January, Sirius XM shared a clip from the rising star’s upcoming interview with Andy Cohen, in which he reflected on the response he’s received from closeted professional athletes.
“It’s definitely the people who reach out somewhat anonymously, who are like ‘I’m a professional player still, and I’m still in the closet,” Williams revealed.
When Cohen asked whether he’d heard from closeted hockey players specifically, the handsome actor said yes, adding that football players and basketball players have also reached out to him.
“So then they’re reaching out to Rachel [Reid], our author [of the Heated Rivalry], who will then relay these lovely anonymous emails. Sometimes they are just reaching out privately through Instagram, and those ones are the ones that really kind of hit you and go, ‘Oh, so this is a fun show, and it’s celebratory, but also sometimes it’s just hitting people right in the nerve,” he concluded.
Check out the full clip below.
Hudson Williams talks to Andy Cohen about receiving messages from closeted pro athletes following the release of “Heated Rivalry”
Full interview will be released tomorrow https://t.co/s9Er2cmUhv pic.twitter.com/stFTEluJbT
— Hudson Williams Updates (@hudsonwupdates) January 7, 2026
Williams’ interview, which drops on 8 January, comes nearly two weeks after the premiere of the Heated Rivalry season one finale.
Titled ‘The Cottage,’ the episode follows Shane (Williams) and Ilya (Connor Storrie) as they travel to the former’s cottage for some much-needed R&R.
As you can imagine, the episode featured an array of emotional moments between our favourite fictional hockey players, including Ilya opening up about his late mother’s suicide and the lovebirds finally uttering the phrase ‘I love you’ to each other.
However, the most significant moment of the finale came in the episode’s second half, when Shane and Ilya revealed their romantic relationship to the former’s parents.
After Shane’s dad, David (Dylan Walsh), walked in on them kissing, the two drove over to their nearby house to come clean about their long-standing connection.
While the exchange was understandably awkward, David and Yuna (Christina Chang) embraced the relationship and their son’s sexuality, marking the start of Shane and Ilya’s upcoming coming-out journey.
Fortunately, we’ll be able to see the two navigate their new relationship dynamic both on and off the ice in the second season of Heated Rivalry, which was greenlit in December.
At this time, details on the new batch of episodes are being kept under wraps. However, we do know that season two will adapt The Long Game, the sequel to Heated Rivalry and the sixth book in Reid’s overarching Game Changer series.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the show’s creator and writer, Jacob Tierney, reassured fans that the new season won’t take two or more years to produce, as other TV series do.
“It’s not gonna be two years. It’s not even gonna be 18 months, I don’t think. So we’re gonna go as fast as we can, while ensuring that we’re doing as good a job as we possibly can,” he explained to the publication.
“There’s only so fast a track to go down when the show is written and directed by one person. I haven’t started writing yet. I’m going to. We are aware. We want to get the season out as soon as we can, as well, while also making sure that we give people a good second season.”
There’s more: Heated Rivalry will finally arrive in the UK, streaming on Sky and NOW TV from 10 January.
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