{"id":2180809,"date":"2025-11-29T11:09:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T11:09:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2180809"},"modified":"2025-11-29T11:09:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T11:09:23","slug":"is-heated-rivalry-on-hbo-max-based-on-a-true-story-heres-what-its-based-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/is-heated-rivalry-on-hbo-max-based-on-a-true-story-heres-what-its-based-on\/","title":{"rendered":"Is &#8216;Heated Rivalry&#8217; On HBO Max Based On A True Story? Here&#8217;s What It&#8217;s Based On"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-v-13616c61=\"\">\n<p><em>Heated Rivalry <\/em>is the hot new <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blavity.com\/entertainment\/hbo-max-name-change\">HBO Max<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blavity.com\/entertainment\/canadas-drag-race-season-6-trailer-guest-judges\">Crave series<\/a> that has a legion of fans already and a lot of people talking about its steamy scenes. <\/p>\n<p>The series focused on the on-ice and off-ice relationship between two hockey players, played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. Other stars include Fran\u00e7ois Arnaud, Christina Chang, Dylan Walsh, Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/blavity.com\/entertainment\/yellowjackets-season-3-ending-explained-antler-queen-pit-girl\">Sophie N\u00e9lisse<\/a> and Callan Potter.<\/p>\n<p>Many fans may be wondering if the show is based on a true story, so let\u2019s dive into what\u2019s real in the drama series. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-the-plot-of-the-heated-rivalry-series\">What is the plot of the \u2018Heated Rivalry\u2019 series? <\/h2>\n<p>The official series description from HBO Max says that the series \u201cchronicles the story of rival hockey players Shane and Ilya. Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) are two of the biggest stars in Major League Hockey, bound by ambition, rivalry, and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understands. What begins as a secret fling between two fresh-faced rookies evolves into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery. Over the next eight years, the pair chase glory on the ice while struggling to navigate their feelings off it. Torn between the sport they live for and the love they can\u2019t ignore, Shane and Ilya must decide if there is room in their fiercely competitive world for something as fragile and as powerful as real love.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Heated Rivalry | Official Trailer | HBO Max\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lKO26odltss?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-is-heated-rivalry-a-real-story\">Is \u2018Heated Rivalry a real story?<\/h2>\n<p>No, <em>Heated Rivalry <\/em>is not a true story. However, it does have source material that the series is based on. Canadian actor, writer and director Jacob Tierney, who was also one of the minds behind Hulu\u2019s <em>Letterkenny, <\/em>is the creator of <em>Heated Rivalry, <\/em>and he adapted the series, which is based on the\u00a0<em>Game Changers<\/em>\u00a0novel series from author Rachel Reid. <\/p>\n<p>Reid\u2019s series has six books, and most books is a different story, focusing on a different gay hockey romance. However, there is continuity between the books, and some characters appear across the book series. The sixth book, <em>The Long Game, <\/em>picks back up with Shane and Ilya. <\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-has-the-game-changers-book-series-ended\">Has the \u2018Game Changers\u2019 book series ended?<\/h2>\n<p>In February 2025, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rachelreidwrites.com\/news\/2025\/2\/16\">Reid announced<\/a> that the <em>Game Changers <\/em>book series would end with the sixth one, <em>The Long Game<\/em>, despite having long worked on a book on the character of Luca Haas. <\/p>\n<p>She ended a lengthy blog post by stating, \u201cI know how lucky I am, having received so much love for this series and these characters. I appreciate all of the love and support so much, and believe me when I say this decision comes from my own love of these characters. I want to do the right thing by them, and sometimes the right thing is to walk away.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-will-heated-rivalry-have-a-season-2\">Will \u2018Heated Rivalry\u2019 have a Season 2?<\/h2>\n<p>Right now, it is unknown if <em>Heated Rivalry <\/em>will have a second season. It is currently billed as a drama series, and not a limited series or miniseries. If <em>Heated Rivalry <\/em>is renewed for Season 2, it has yet to be determined if it would continue Shane and Illya\u2019s story (maybe even a <em>The Long Game <\/em>adaptation), or if their story would wrap in Season 1, and future seasons could focus on another novel in Reid\u2019s series.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-is-the-release-schedule-for-heated-rivalry-on-hbo-max\">What is the release schedule for \u2018Heated Rivalry\u2019 on HBO Max<\/h2>\n<p>The first season of <em>Heated Rivalry <\/em>has six episodes. The first two episodes debuted on premiere day, Nov. 28, and after that, there is an episode that will debut each week on Fridays until the rest of the year.<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s the schedule and episode titles:<\/p>\n<p>Episode 1:\u00a0\u201cRookies\u201d\u00a0\u2013 Nov. 28<\/p>\n<p>Episode 2:\u00a0\u201cOlympians\u201d \u2013 Nov. 28<\/p>\n<p>Episode 3:\u00a0\u201c******\u201d \u2013 Dec. 5<\/p>\n<p>Episode 4:\u00a0\u201cRose\u201d \u2013 Dec. 12<\/p>\n<p>Episode 5:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ll Believe in Anything\u201d \u2013\u00a0Dec. 19<\/p>\n<p>Episode 6:\u00a0\u201cThe Cottage\u201d \u2013\u00a0Dec. 26<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-frequently-asked-questions\">Frequently Asked Questions <\/h2>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-time-does-heated-rivalry-come-on-hbo-max\">What time does \u2018Heated Rivalry\u2019 come on HBO Max?<\/h3>\n<p><em>Heated Rivalry <\/em>episodes can be expected to be available for the standard HBO Max premiere time, which is typically 12 a.m. PST \/ 3 a.m. EST, unless it happens to be a series that is given a specific, primetime episode premiere window. <\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-was-legendary-removed-from-hbo-max\">Was \u2018Legendary\u2019 removed from HBO Max?<\/h3>\n<p>Yes, <em>Legendary <\/em>was removed from HBO Max amid a content purge when Warner Bros. merged with Discovery. <em>Legendary <\/em>is now streaming on Tubi and can also be viewed on The Roku Channel.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-can-i-read-heated-rivalry-as-a-standalone\">Can I read \u2018Heated Rivalry\u2019 as a standalone?<\/h3>\n<p>Although there are elements that carry through each <em>Game Changers <\/em>book, Heated Rivalry can be read on its own, and you don\u2019t have to read any of the other books before it. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js#xfbml=1&#038;version=v7.0&#038;autoLogAppEvents=1&#038;appId=567482886746994\" async defer crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source blavity.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Heated Rivalry is the hot new HBO Max and Crave series that has a legion of fans already and a lot of people talking about its steamy scenes. The series focused on the on-ice and off-ice relationship between two hockey players, played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. Other stars include Fran\u00e7ois Arnaud, Christina Chang, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2180809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2180809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2180809"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2180809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2180810,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2180809\/revisions\/2180810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2180809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2180809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2180809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}