The renewal of the Crave original series “Heated Rivalry” came as a surprise to nobody after the show took the internet by storm last year. The series, directed by Jacob Tierney, is based on the “Game Changers” book series by Rachel Reid.
The first season of the show followed the events of the book of the same name, with some elements from the first book in the series, “Game Changer Season two will be an adaptation of “The Long Game the sequel to Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander’s story.
The second season will have a tough task to meet the critical and public acclaim of the first season. The first season became the most-watched series on Crave, won a Peabody Award, a GLAAD award and skyrocketed the careers of its two lead actors, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams.
On Dec. 12, prior to the conclusion of the first season, Williams and Storrie announced the continuation of the series on Instagram while reading the book that the second season would be adapted from. Since then, the popularity of the show and its actors have continued to grow, creating a large fan base.
Little has been disclosed about the show, with a lot of details kept under wraps. Tierney told The Hollywood Reporter, “What's so funny about the level of secrecy is like there’s a book — you can just look at it. It'll tell you honestly, 90 percent of what you’d like to know is in that book."
Tierney shared some details as to what to expect on the differences between the show’s first season and where it picks up afterwards. Tierney told The Hollywood Reporter, “It really is different, and the challenge, from an adaptation standpoint, is you’re in much more serious territory … this kind of ‘hotel room, adolescent sex’ stuff is largely gone.”
In August, information about the season was released, with the first casting announcement for the second season. Along with the return of Williams and Storrie, it was announced that Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie would join the cast as Harris Drover and Troy Barrett, respectively.
The book in the series prior to “The Long Game,” titled “Role Model” follows the romance between Barrett, a closeted hockey player for the Ottawa Centaurs, and Drover, the team’s social media manager. The casting announcement came with a mixed reactions from fans as Smith’s character is described in the book as pudgy, unathletic and stocky. Fans felt a missed opportunity for more body inclusivity in the show by not properly representing the character.
On Aug. 13, another announcement introduced five new characters; Vanessa played by Emily Hampshire, Luca Haas played by Edvin Ryding, Wyatt Hayes played by Robert Naylor, Farah Jalali played by Sabrina Jalees and Tarek played by Priyanka. The announcements indicate that storylines from other books will be incorporated, similar to the first season’s inclusion of Scott Hunter and Kip Grady’s love story from “Game Changer."
On Aug. 17, it was announced that season two had officially began filming with an Instagram post from the official Heated Rivalry account. On Tuesday, two more characters were announced with Daniel Diemer playing Ryan Price and Shaheen Jafargholi playing Fabian Salah.
Fans may recall Price being mentioned in the fourth episode of the first season, during an interaction between Rosanov and Hollander. Price is the main character in the third book in the series, “Tough Guy
Images from the filming site have started to be released online, with fans noting the loss of Rosanov’s iconic curly locks for a new buzzcut look. Scott Hunter’s actor Francois Arnaud was also spotted in Los Angeles for filming.
The second season is expected to be released in April 2027, and with more casting announcements and teasers soon to be seen, fans will have plenty to look forward to while they wait.
