‘Heated Rivalry’ Season 2 Casts Coach Thériault: All the Latest Updates
Heated Rivalry Season 2 has officially begun film, and the casting announcements are still rolling in. On October 2, HBO Max and Crave revealed who will be playing Coach Thériault!
Creator Jacob Tierney is adapting Reid’s The Long Game, Shane and Ilya’s sequel romance, in Season 2. Now officially — and secretly — dating Shane (Hudson Williams), Ilya (Connor Storrie) has become the captain of the Ottawa Centaurs. It’s one of the worst teams in the league, though they make up for it in how lovable they are. Several of the Centaurs, including Luca Haas and Wyatt Hayes, were recently cast.
We also have our first glimpse at one of its scenes! The first image from the set doesn’t appear to feature Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, leaving us to wonder if it’s Charlie Gillespie‘s Troy Barrett or another character from author Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series.
Ilya is in closer proximity to Montreal-based Shane, but all the sneaking around is taking a toll on their relationship. Keep reading for the full plot recap, cast list, first-look photo, and every other detail revealed about Heated Rivalry Season 2 so far.
Who is in the Heated Rivalry Season 2 cast?
We don’t need to tell you that Williams and Storrie will once again appear as Shane and Ilya, which they confirmed themselves in the renewal announcement. Charlie Gillespie and Justice Smith will play Troy and Harris, respectively. Season 2 will adapt their book, Role Model, as well.
“Rachel Reid has given us two beautifully layered characters in Harris and Troy who you can’t help but root for,” Tierney and Brady said in a statement. “From the start of the casting process, we knew we were looking for actors who could create something truly special together and bring that same depth and heart to the screen. Justice and Charlie do exactly that. They immediately connected with the vulnerability and resilience at the core of these characters, bringing an instinctive understanding of who Harris and Troy are.”
On October 2, Canadian actor Yves Jacques revealed that he will be playing Coach Thériault in Season 2 by posting an adorable video with Tierney. In French, he told his fans, “The reason I can’t be there tonight is because I’m appearing in a series I think you like a lot, being made by a man that I like a lot, Jacob Tierney, and it’s called Heated Rivalry.”
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On August 13, Crave revealed five new cast members. Edvin Ryding (Young Royals) will play Swedish rookie Centaurs player Luca, while the Centaurs’ friendly goalie, Wyatt, will be brought to life by Robert Naylor. Sabrina Jalees will appear as Ilya and Shane’s supportive agent.
The casting announcement also included actors playing characters from Reid’s Tough Guy, which follows the romance of hockey player Ryan Price and singer Fabian Salah. The actors for those two have yet to be announced, but Fabian’s best friends, Vanessa and Tarek, are being played by Schitt’s Creek star Emily Hampshire and drag queen Priyanka.
Tierney confirmed that The Long Game will be “the basis of Season 2 and potentially moving forward,” so Reid’s book gives us some idea about which characters will show up again and which new ones will be added to the mix. In fact, he discussed the new additions during his chat with Swooon.
Sophie Nélisse told Awards Radar that she’ll once again play Shane’s actress ex, Rose Landry, in Season 2. It’s not a surprise for readers of The Long Game, in which Rose plays a small role as Shane’s friendly confidant.
Almost every character in Reid’s Game Changers book universe makes a cameo in the book, including François Arnaud‘s Scott Hunter. However, whether the hockey player and his boyfriend, Kip (Robbie G.K.), would actually return wasn’t confirmed until August 4. “I can tell you that there’s more of Scott, but I can’t tell you in what capacity,” Arnaud told WWD. “There are various things at play. But there’s definitely more of Scott and Kip.”
Shane’s parents, played by Dylan Walsh and Christina Chang, and Callan Potter, who plays Shane’s best friend and teammate Hayden, will return. They all play supporting roles in the sequel book. Only time will tell if Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova will reprise her role as Ilya’s best friend, Svetlana.
When did Heated Rivalry Season 2 start filming?
With the first look photo, the show revealed that filming began on August 17. It will continue through the fall in Toronto, Canada.
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What is Heated Rivalry Season 2’s release date?
Heated Rivalry will return to HBO Max and Crave in spring 2027. It may seem like a ways off, but Tierney addressed the Season 2 production timeline in a December 2025 interview with Variety. “It can’t be same time next year, because this time last year I’d written five of these, and this time this year I’ve written zero of them,” Tierney said. “So it’s going to be a little bit later, but it’s still going to be soon.”
He continued, “We understand that everybody’s goal is to not do two years between seasons. And at the same time, I don’t want to put out a rushed sh*tty second season just because the show is very popular. But we’re very aware that our creative partners are enthusiastic and don’t want to wait too long. We’re getting back to work!”
That development came after the official Heated Rivalry Instagram account confirmed a Season 2 on December 12, 2025, with Williams and Storrie reading a passage from The Long Game. “We’re so excited by the reception our characters have received,” Williams began. Storrie chimed in, “And we cannot wait to get back into production and explore where Shane and Ilya go in Season 2.”
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An additional video of Tierney breaking the exciting news to the leads was also released.
Jacob and Brendan telling Hudson and Connor about the shows renewal via heatedrivalrytv on Instagram ❤️🔥🏒 #heatedrivalry pic.twitter.com/oGX15GsSMC
— Heated Rivalry Updates (@H_R_Updates) December 12, 2025
Crave is set to produce the series again, while HBO Max will continue to serve as a distributor. According to Deadline, the streamer is “now striking deals with program distributor Sphere Abacus for more territories.”
What will Heated Rivalry Season 2 be about?
Tierney confirmed Season 2 will adapt The Long Game in an interview with Swooon. He’s optioned all of the books in Reid’s Game Changers series, per c21 Media. “Parts” of Role Model will be in Season 2, Tierney revealed at BookCon. Despite the expanding world, he assured that Ilya and Shane will remain the “heartbeat” of the show.
“There’s an easy, kind of facile way of looking at Role Model,” the showrunner said. “It’s very grumpy-sunshine. It’s very apple orchard. Troy’s a really damaged guy, and Troy is quite damaged on the show. I would say we’re digging into that even harder. Because that’s what’s interesting. And that’s all there in those books. That’s why it’s such a fertile playground for me as a creator to have fun with.”
In casting Tough Guy characters, we can likely expect some elements from that book, as well.
The games not over.
Season 2 of #HeatedRivalry is coming to HBO Max. pic.twitter.com/CwoTu9LuTl
— HBO Max (@hbomax) December 12, 2025
Read on for a full breakdown of what to expect in Season 2, sans major spoilers.
What is Heated Rivalry Season 2’s plot?
Bell Media
Season 1 doesn’t include the epilogue from Reid’s Heated Rivalry, so beware of spoilers for the first book. Heated Rivalry ends with Shane and Ilya confessing their love, committing to being together, and making a long-term plan. The show ends before it comes to fruition, while the book sees it happen in the epilogue.
A year-and-some-change after the cottage, the epilogue reveals that Shane and Ilya are planning on keeping their relationship a secret until they retire. Ilya switches teams to be closer to Shane. He becomes the captain of the Ottawa Centaurs and starts a charity with Shane, revealing their “friendship” to the world in the process so that fans won’t be shocked if they’re seen together.
Heated Rivalry gives Shane and Ilya a semi-happy ending, but the angst doesn’t disappear entirely in The Long Game. The second book takes place a decade after they first meet at World Juniors, and their relationship still isn’t public. The hockey-obsessed Shane doesn’t feel any desire to make their relationship known, lest it affect his career. Ilya, on the other hand, finds that the secrets are taking a toll on him. The two have to decide what’s more important: hockey or love.
“We’re going through time so quickly in this story, but The Long Game is so much more focused on the Centaurs and is a bit more settled into, I think, a two-year period, so I think that it will give us time to explore a bit more of the universe,” Tierney told Swooon. “And also to get to know more people that we know a bit: Hayden and Jackie and J.J. and the people that are on Shane’s team.”
He continued, “But certainly, I’m excited to meet all of the fond members of the Ottawa Centaurs, including any new players that happen to show up there and maybe their social media manager…and who knows, all kinds of stuff.”
In February 2026, the writer-director told CBC, “The second season will continue in the spirit of the first. This is about queer people not being punished for their queerness. They all have journeys, there are ups and downs. There is no unhappy ending coming anybody’s way. There might be a bit more suspense, maybe a few more cliffhangers, but that’s also just a function of television.” (Plane scene, anyone?)
On the steamy side of things, we know one book moment is guaranteed to make it into the adaptation. On March 8, Reid shared new details about Season 2 at a Barnes & Noble and Waterstones event in London, confirming the trophy room scene will be filmed. In fact, Reid said she didn’t have to fight for it to be included, since the show’s team is so looking forward to it. (The Long Game fans everywhere breathed a sigh of relief.) Read Swooon‘s full breakdown of the scene here.
Will Heated Rivalry Season 2 split The Long Game into two seasons?
In his Los Angeles Times interview in February 2026, Tierney wouldn’t confirm or deny if The Long Game would play out across one or two seasons, but the confirmation of the trophy room scene could mean the entirety of the book will play out in Season 2. It arrives in the final few chapters.
However, the showrunner again hinted at the possibility of splitting The Long Game across more than one season in April. “Who said I’m doing it all? There’s a lot of material,” Tierney told Deadline.
How many episodes will be in Heated Rivalry Season 2?
Tierney also told the Los Angeles Times that he’ll likely stick to six episodes per season. “I don’t need to do 10. I would always rather tighten the belt than get loosey-goosey,” he said. “I would rather be like, ‘Let’s see how much story we can pack into these episodes.’”
There have also been discussions of a special episode before Season 2’s release. “We’re going to see what’s feasible. If [Tierney] can find a way to make the source material work in a way that gets us something sooner or something special, I’m sure he will,” Justin Stockman, the VP of content development and programming at Bell Media, told The Star.
What are your Season 2 predictions? Let us know in the comments below!
Heated Rivalry, Season 2, TBA Spring 2027, Crave & HBO Max
