Coming back alongside Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams are François Arnaud and Robbie G.K. as fan-favorite couple Scott and Kip, who inspired Ilya (Storrie) to join Shane (Williams) at the cottage; Sophie Nélisse as Rose, the famous actress who briefly dated Shane before becoming his close friend and confidant; Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova as Ilya’s longtime friend and occasional hookup partner Svetlana, whom he considered marrying for a green card until Shane stepped in; as well as Christina Chang and Dylan Walsh as Shane’s parents, Yuna and David, respectively. Also returning are Callan Potter and Benjamin Roy as Shane’s teammates Hayden — who is also Shane’s best friend — and JJ, respectively, and Kamilla Kowal as Hayden’s wife Jackie.
They join the previously announced Season 2 cast: Justice Smith as Harris; Charlie Gillespie as Troy; Daniel Diemer as Ryan; Shaheen Jafargholi as Fabian; plus Emily Hampshire as Vanessa, Edvin Ryding as Luca, Robert Naylor as Wyatt, Sabrina Jalees as Farah, and Priyanka as Tarek.
Season 1 is based on the Rachel Reid novel Heated Rivalry from her popular Game Changers book series. Season 2 will be an adaptation of Reid’s sixth book, The Long Game, a direct sequel to the Heated Rivalry novel. The new season will also incorporate elements from Reid’s fifth book, Role Model.
From Bell Media’s Canadian streamer Crave and HBO Max in the U.S., Heated Rivalry‘s first season told the story of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, who are bound by ambition, rivalry, and a magnetic pull neither of them fully understood. What began as a secret fling between two fresh-faced rookies evolved into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery.
The Long Game novel picks back up with Shane and Ilya after they have been seeing each other for 10 years, keeping their relationship a secret. Ilya wants to go public, but Shane feels that they should keep it under wraps to stay at the top of his game.
Created by Jacob Tierney, Heated Rivalry is produced by Accent Aigu Entertainment in association with Bell Media’s Crave, the latter of which commissioned the series with the participation of the Canada Media Fund. Tierney also serves as writer, director, and executive producer of the series. Brendan Brady and Jayme Alter Wilson also EP. Lori Fischburg and Liane Cunje are producers, with author Reid as consulting producer. Mike Goldbach is the co-writer of Season 2. The series is distributed internationally by Sphere Abacus, a Bell Media company, and is available in more than 130 countries around the world.
