I binge-watched 2025’s raunchy TV megahit – don’t listen to the hype

If you have been anywhere online in the past month, you’ve likely seen one TV show capture the zeitgeist: Heated Rivalry.

Sold as a steamy, slowburn rivals-to-lovers ice hockey romance, the show follows the fiery love story between Canada’s Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Russia’s Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) over the course of a decade.

What starts as a clandestine archrivals-with-benefits situationship soon turns into a sweet, and endearing romance. If the internet is anything to go by, it’s the best fictional love story of the 21st century.

For us lowly UK folk who have been forced to watch the rest of the world run wild while we waited for the episodes to land on our side of the pond, we’ve watched a cultural moment completely explode before our eyes.

The lead actors have gone from a few thousand followers to well over a million and counting on Instagram. They’ve graced the covers of the biggest magazines in the world and comfortably secured a season two for the Crave series.

There’s no denying that in the era of an often oversaturated TV landscape, Heated Rivarly has managed to break through the noise and become the most unexpected TV hit of 2025 and beyond.

At least on my algorithm, I was seeing more horny fan edits of Shane and Ilya than I was discourse on the final season of Stranger Things – Netflix’s biggest TV show and what was tipped to be the cultural event of December.

As a queer woman, I’m always looking for hopeful, inspiring and fresh LGBTQ+ media (and I have a soft spot for slightly cheesy romances, sue me!), so this show seemed right down my alley.

In preparation, as any culture-junkie does, I read the book it is based on by Rachel Reid and enjoyed it well enough.

So when it came to finally diving into the series, I was primed and prepped with weeks of hype, the book plot in hand and a penchant for queer romance.

I will say, I definitely understand the appeal.

Given it started as a humble Crave production on a significantly smaller budget than the other must-watch shows of 2025 (Severance, Pluribus etc), it has a bold voice and vision.

Of course, for many, there has been plenty of buzz over the sex scenes, which thrived under solid choreography and, for the most part, a real purpose in the plot.

The scenes weren’t just gratuitous smut but offered an insight into the ever-evolving dynamic between Shane and Ilya, with precious glimpses of intimate conversation between the two during their burgeoning relationship.

Faithful to the source material, there is a lot of sex, especially in the first couple of episodes, and there were times I found myself wanting to fast-forward through them to get back to the actual conversations between our two protagonists.

The show was at its best when we saw these sweet moments of connection between Ilya and Shane, and we found ourselves rooting for them.

I was slightly disappointed that the show didn’t lean more into the rivals aspect of their relationship, which is a compelling dynamic, but the hockey is largely skimmed over throughout.

I also found the huge time jumps that they raced through across six episodes jarring.

It was difficult to feel the weight of how much time had passed when it was greatly condensed, which made the stakes and the depth of their feelings for one another feel more shallow than they perhaps were.

Also, as much as I enjoyed the sidequest into fellow hockey player, Scott Hunter (Francois Arnaud) and his love life, his entire subplot was strangely paced and disjointed – with the audience having to fill in large gaps.

All in all, however, both Connor and Hudson do a commendable job stepping into the shoes of Shane and Ilya, and their chemistry on-screen is palpable and engaging.

By the end, the show truly shines, with some gorgeous moments of vulnerability from both men and a lovely exploration of both the complexity and freedom of coming out.

The female members of the ensemble, Ilya’s best friend Svetalana (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova), Hollywood actor Rose (Sophie Nelisse) and Shane’s mum Yuna (Christina Chang), were also welcome additions to the storyline.

In future episodes, I would love to see the women of the show fleshed out as their own characters beyond how they relate to and serve Shane and Ilya.

Especially to give Heated Rivalry more definition and nuanced female representation as well, something a TV adaptation has more room to play with.

Although there were moments I struggled through, by the last few episodes, I was hooked.

I will say that, in many ways, I wish I had ignored the immense hype on social media and entered with fresh eyes and base-level expectations.

If I had, I think the show would have been a lot more enjoyable instead of having it compared to a rose-tinted and impossible yardstick.

So, if I could offer one piece of advice for eager viewers, it would be to forget what you’ve seen and go in with a clear mind. You’ll enjoy it much more for what it is, as opposed to what you want it to be.

I’ll be tuning into the next season when it comes out, but I hope that the creator, Jacob Tierney, takes stock of the pacing issues and offers more time to the wider plot, even if it means sacrificing the sexier scenes.

All six episodes of Heated Rivalry are available to stream on Sky and NOW from January 10, 2026.

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