ICE’s aggressive immigration raids are still disrupting cities across the country … and shocking new video shows just how violent agents are getting … with agents seen dragging a pregnant woman in the snow and slush-covered street. As you can…
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HBO’s Heated Rivalry is captivating audiences — but what did the TV adaptation change from Rachel Reid‘s Game Changers book series?
Based on the hit book franchise, Heated Rivalry follows two rival professional hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), whose animosity on the ice is just a front for a secret romance.
Heated Rivalry blew up on social media after premiering on Crave and HBO Max in November 2025 — in large part due to the heated scenes between Williams and Storrie. Creator Jacob Tierney opened up about the work that went into developing the fictional TV couple.
“We talked about how every time these guys aren’t touching, they want to be,” Tierney told Swooon at the time. “So the act of not touching should be more difficult for them than touching. They would want to be physical with one another, and that’s part of the public/private dance that they do, and the frustration of being in public.”
Hudson Williams Was on ‘Tracker’ Before HBO’s ‘Heated Rivalry’: What to Know
He continued: “There’s a magnetism because there are two characters that essentially have this chemistry immediately. This magnetic electric thing is happening between them, and they do not get to satisfy it because they’re not allowed to be physical with each other the way that they would like to be in public.”
Keep scrolling for a breakdown of what differs in the TV adaptation of Heated Rivalry:
As readers may know, the book series doesn’t explore as much of Shane’s parents or his cultural identity since his mother is Japanese and his father is Canadian.
“I felt like [his cultural identity] needed to be said out loud because his name is Shane Hollander,” Tierney told Teen Vogue. “So you can whitewash him in your brain really easily when you’re reading a book or when you’re listening in a way that I don’t want to with this show.”
Speaking of Shane’s arc, his excessive dieting is addressed in Heated Rivalry‘s sequel book The Long Game. But the show doesn’t wait to hint at Shane’s complicated and concerning relationship with food.
The third episode of the show focused on Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and Kip’s (Robbie G.K.) romance, which is actually the central story of Reid’s Game Changer. Elsewhere in the HBO series, Scott is utilized more when it comes to Shane and Ilya’s romance.
Connor Storrie Wins Us Over in HBO’s Steamy ‘Heated Rivalry’: What to Know
Building up the suspense is a priority in the show, which waited years while the book spanned only two weeks between Shane and Ilya’s initial hookup and then taking the next sexual step.
Notably, Svetlana (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova) and Sasha’s (Kaden Connors) individual roles in Ilya’s life are expanded on in the show compared to the book.
There are some places book fans were hoping to see that Tierney confirmed were cut due to budget restrictions preventing them from showing more areas on screen.
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With increased immigration enforcement under President Trump, many
families with undocumented members are living in fear of US Immigration
and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. Many are afraid to leave their homes
and families are having to face the reality that they may be separated,
detained and even deported. This week on The Sunday Story, NPR
immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd, reporting for the Code Switch
podcast, takes us into the lives of the immigrant families who are
facing immense pressure in the United States.
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President Trump calls on Senate Republicans to end the government shutdown by scrapping the filibuster, even as he admits the standoff hurt the party in this week’s elections. The Supreme Court hears arguments on whether Trump overstepped his authority by imposing tariffs under a decades-old emergency powers law. And in Chicago, federal judges side against the administration in immigration enforcement cases, ordering cleaner detention centers and tighter limits on the use of force.
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p class=”readrate”>Today’s episode of Up First was edited by Jason Breslow, Krishnadev Calamur Cheryl Corely, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Alice Woelfle.
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p class=”readrate”>It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas and Christopher Thomas
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p class=”readrate” data-rr=”17″ data-pm-slice=”1 1 []”>We get engineering support from Stacey Abbott. And our technical director is David Greenburg.
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