Seemingly overnight a new TV show has not just captured the short attention span of netizens everywhere, but held it in a vice grip. Heated Rivalry is a steamy, queer ice hockey romance adapted from the book of the same name by bestselling author Rachel Reid.
Created, written, and directed by Jacob Tierney – of Letterkenny and Shoresy fame – the show centres on the years-long, simmering rivalry between two professional ice hockey stars, Asian-Canadian star Shane Hollander and Russian phenom Ilya Rozanov.
Anyone familiar with the growing cult that is romance literature and BookTok (I myself am an active member) will be familiar with the popularity of sports-based romance novels and the lure ice hockey in particular has over readers. IYKYK.
For the uninitiated, one watch of Heated Rivalry will have you signing up to join our club. Welcome.
Where To Watch Heated Rivalry In Australia
Initially, Heated Rivalry was only set for release in Canadia, on local streaming service, Crave. Naturally, this decision saw outrage and outcry from fans online which led to a last-minute pickup of the series internationally.
In Australia, Heated Rivalry is available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes of the six-part series drop weekly, landing on Australian screens every Saturday. See the full release schedule of when new episodes come out, below.
| Episode | Release Date |
|---|---|
| Episode 1 | November 29, 2025 |
| Episode 2 | November 29, 2025 |
| Episode 3 | December 6, 2025 |
| Episode 4 | December 13, 2025 |
| Episode 5 | December 20, 2025 |
| Episode 6 | December 27, 2025 |
What Is Heated Rivalry About?
At its core, Heated Rivalry is an enemies-to-lovers, rivals-to-romance story between Shane, the clean-cut, golden-boy of ice hockey and Ilya, the sharp-tongued ego-heavy Russian.
It’s the second novel in an interconnected collection of queer hockey romances that each follow different players in and around the NHL. Like many interconnected romance series, every book works as a standalone, characters reappear throughout the series, and the emotional arcs build a shared universe.
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