Carly Rae Jepsen Names Son Ilya After Heated Rivalry. Other Allies, You’re on Notice

It goes without saying that Carly Rae Jepsen is a capital-A ally to the queers. From performing at Capital Pride in DC as early as 2015 to donating to The Trevor Project, she’s made it absolutely clear where she stands. And on an artistic level, her perfectly crafted melodic tunes about heartbreak and longing — which are somehow also dance floor bangers —have cemented her as a gay icon.But did you know that Jepsen also has a connection to one of our favorite queer masterpieces of the 21st century, Heated Rivalry?Turns out the “Call Me Maybe,” singer was nearly tapped to create an original song for season one of the gay hockey romance, but was unfortunately out of the budget for the HBO Max show’s debut. Writer-director Jacob Tierney revealed on a December 2025 episode of What Chaos!, a hockey podcast hosted by Pete Blackburn and DJ Bean, that the Canadian pop darling’s music was on on his personal playlist while writing season one, but knew that he wouldn’t have been able to afford her for the show. In that same interview, he mentioned that he was definitely going to ask her about season two now that he has “Jepsen” money, and even teased that he wanted an original song for it.Though Tierney expressed interest in collaborating with Jepsen back in December of last year, it seems that the request hasn’t been formally submitted just yet. In a new profile for The Hollywood Reporter, Jepsen said that it would be a “dream” for her to contribute to the drama’s sophomore season. She continued, “It was an incredible show. Ilya is the name of my son. Maybe, not maybe because of that show.” Um, wait, excuse me!? Did she really just say that she possibly named her firstborn son after a devilishly charming and totally handsome Russian hockey star played by a sweet, curly-haired talent named Connor Storrie? I think yes! How’s that for allyship?The “Emotion” singer became pregnant during the mixing process of her forthcoming double album, Day