Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams
A decade into a secret romance, Heated Rivalry shifts from falling in love to fighting for the right to live it out loud. TKA201, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Jacob Tierney has told fans he is 'working very hard' on Heated Rivalry Season 2, confirming during a video speech at the Critics Choice Celebration of LGBTQ+ Cinema & Television in Los Angeles on Friday that new episodes of the Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams drama are in active development and expected to start filming in August.

The news came after the Crave/HBO Max hockey romance was officially renewed for a second season and began sweeping up accolades for its debut run. At the 3rd Critics Choice LGBTQ+ ceremony, the Canadian showrunner was honoured with the LGBTQ Showrunner Award, which he accepted remotely, and used the moment to reassure viewers eager for more of Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander's story.

'Thank you so much to the Critics Choice Association for this amazing and unexpected honour,' Tierney said in his pre-recorded message. 'I'm so, so grateful, and I'm so sorry that I cannot be there to celebrate with all of you in person and accept this. I'm working very hard on Season 2 to get it out to people as soon as possible. I genuinely wish I could be there. I'm so moved by this.'

He went on to thank his producing partner Brendan Brady, along with Rachel Reid, whose novel first brought the star-crossed hockey rivals to life, and the cast and crew who turned the books into a breakout screen hit. It is the kind of awards-night speech that doubles as a production update, and Tierney seemed very aware that his audience included not only industry peers but an online fandom watching his every word for clues.

Season 2 to Draw From The Long Game

Tierney has already confirmed that Heated Rivalry Season 2 will adapt The Long Game, the only other current book in Reid's series that continues the relationship between Ilya and Shane. Speaking previously to Deadline, he explained that the sophomore season will again focus tightly on the same couple, rather than spinning off to different characters.

In The Long Game, the story jumps forward a decade. Shane Hollander, played on screen by Hudson Williams, and Connor Storrie's Ilya Rozanov are now 10 years into their relationship. They have remained together, but they have also remained in the closet, hiding their partnership from the sport that first pitted them against one another.

That time leap sets up the central conflict of the new chapters. On the page, Ilya is ready to live openly and push their relationship into the public eye, while Shane is convinced that going public would threaten his ability to stay at the top of his game. Tierney's adaptation is expected to mirror that tension, placing questions of privacy, career pressure and queer visibility at the heart of Season 2.

Fans who fell for the slow-burn enemies-to-lovers arc of Season 1 are therefore likely to see a shift towards something more grown-up and arguably messier: a couple negotiating what it means to sustain love over time, rather than simply falling into it.

What Fans Can Expect From Return

Although Tierney kept specific plot beats close to his chest in his Critics Choice remarks, the production timeline he revealed offers some practical hints. Filming is 'expected to begin' in August, after he has finished writing all the episodes, suggesting the creative team is aiming for a tightly scripted, author-led season rather than building on the fly.

That schedule also indicates that, unless there are significant delays, Heated Rivalry Season 2 will move relatively quickly through production, riding the current wave of interest generated by awards recognition and the showrunner's new accolade. The Critics Choice Showrunner Award itself underlines how central Tierney's voice has become to the series' success.

On the literary side, Reid's next book in the universe, Unrivaled, is due to 'resume the story' on 29 September, extending the printed canon beyond The Long Game. There is no confirmation yet on whether that instalment will feed into future television seasons, so any speculation about a third outing for the TV series remains just that.

For now, the focus is firmly on translating The Long Game to screen and getting Storrie and Williams back into their skates. Their on-screen chemistry was at the centre of the first season's appeal, and Tierney's decision to stick with Ilya and Shane rather than pivot to new leads is likely to be read as a deliberate nod to the fanbase that propelled the show to awards stages in the first place.

The subtext of his speech was simple enough: scripts are being written, cameras are booked, and the creative team behind Heated Rivalry Season 2 is trying to move fast without losing the emotional detail that has made this particular rivalry worth revisiting.

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