Heated Rivalry Filming Two Seasons and a Film Back-to-Back

This story originally appeared on Out.Hold onto your helmets, Heated Rivalry fans! Hot off the presses comes some cool news about everyone's favorite ice hockey gay romance drama, and about the future appearances of Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander, the characters played by Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams.A report in Deadline over the weekend scooped what to expect next from series creator and Out100 honoree Jacob Tierney: Not just six steamy episodes of season 2 for 2027 but also another season to follow, filmed back-to-back in Ontario and other Canadian locales. Production of season 3 is expected to wrap by the end of this month or early next month, Deadline's Nellie Andreeva reported on Saturday. Variety first reported in February that Tierney promised an April 2027 release date for season 2, but last month he was less specific, telling CBS News viewers can expect new episodes in "late spring."But that's not all. When season 3 is in the can, Tierney's plan is to shift production to a standalone Heated Rivalry film, according to Deadline, The report described the movie as either a Christmas special or a holiday-themed episode that will have a theatrical release in December 2027. Sources tell Deadline that Ilya and Shane do not appear in the Christmas movie. "Details are murky but I hear it is centered on the other season 1 couple, Scott (François Arnaud) and Kip (Robbie G.K.), with additional characters from the series also featured," the article noted.Fans of the bestselling Game Changers novels by author Rachel Reid that Heated Rivalry is based on will note that she has written a short story, Merry Christmas, Scott and Kip!, which focuses on the players' first Christmas together as a couple. However, a spokesperson for the company that produces Heated Rivalry, Crave, told Deadline they could not confirm any additional projects.That said, there's been rampant speculation about the possibility of two seasons of Heated Rivalry being filmed back-to-back since pr