Everyone's obsessed with Heated Rivalry. Could it change how we see gay sex on screen?

Entertainment In Heated Rivalry, Hudson Williams, left, stars as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie stars as Ilya Rozanov, two hockey players who are pitted against each other on the ice, but have a secret relationship outside the rink.(Bell Media) Williams, left, and Storrie attend the premiere of Heated Rivalry in Toronto. The two actors have been propelled into fame following the breakout success of the show.(Harold Feng/Getty Images) Cast of the American version of Queer As Folk attend a 25th Anniversary Reunion event for the show during the TV Academy's Inaugural Televerse Festival Los Angeles in August 2025.(Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images) Storrie, left, and Williams in Heated Rivalry. In the show, the characters form a secret, casual relationship before discovering deeper feelings for one another.(Crave) Everyone's obsessed with Heated Rivalry. Could it change how we see gay sex on screen? The show's intimacy feels more true to life than others, fans and critics say This article contains spoilers for the show Heated Rivalry . In the locker room shower. A hotel room in Montreal. A bathroom at an awards gala. The boys of Heated Rivalry are hooking up a lot - in TV-defying detail, and in lots of different venues. The Crave original based on a Canadian book series about rival hockey players and their secret off-ice romance has generated buzz from viewers for its explicit sex scenes (and its heartfelt love story alike). TikTok is awash with users too obsessed with the show to think about anything else, spicy edits of heartthrob characters Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander, and brave fans watching the series with their parents . The show’s stars - Hudson Williams, who plays Shane, and Connor Storrie, who plays Ilya - got matching "sex sells" tattoos to mark their work on the production. And they seem to be dead right. Crave says Heated Rivalry became its most-watched original series debut within the first week of its release, and the most recent episode is the second-highest ranked episode of TV of all time on IMDB. A second season of the show also got the green light earlier this month . But fans and TV critics say the show is more than just good entertainment. It's resonating because it pushes the boundaries around how much queer sex can be shown on popular TV, depicting intimacy that feels true to life and maintaining a compelling love story - while still being incredibly steamy. WATCH | Why Heated Rivalry is scoring big with viewers: Gay sex on the small screen One reason the show stands out is because it isn't shy in its depictions of gay sex. It's something that's rare for a mainstream production. “Traditionally ... it's a lot of suggestion, perhaps a lot of fading to black,” said freelance culture writer David Mack. “It's like the [1950s], with people lying in bed with a cigarette afterwards or something like that." That makes Heated Rivalry 's scenes "very shocking" in comparison, he said. For example, the first sexual act takes...

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