'Heated Rivalry’s' Hudson Williams hears from closeted professional athletes

Hudson Williams says professional athletes have sent anonymous messages about 'Heated Rivalry' and its impact

Hudson Williams, who stars in the Crave and HBO Max series Heated Rivalry, has said he has received anonymous messages from professional athletes following the show’s first season.

Williams plays Shane Hollander, a star player for the fictional Montreal Metros, in the drama adapted from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels.

Speaking on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live, Williams said some of the messages have come from athletes who remain closeted while actively competing.

“It’s definitely the people who reach out somewhat anonymously who are like, ‘I’m a professional player still, and I’m still in the closet,’” he said, adding that he has heard from “hockey players, football players, basketball players.”

Williams explained that many of these messages are shared indirectly through the show’s author. “So, then they’re reaching out to Rachel [Reid], our author, who will then kind of relay these lovely anonymous emails. And sometimes they’re just reaching out privately through Instagram,” he said.

According to Williams, the messages reflect how the series resonates beyond entertainment. “And those ones are the ones that really just kind of hit you and go, ‘Oh, so this is a fun show, and it’s celebratory, but also sometimes it’s just hitting people right in the nerve.’”

Heated Rivalry follows the long-running relationship between Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, played by Connor Storrie, as the two professional hockey players secretly maintain an affair over several years while competing on rival teams. The series explores their evolving relationship alongside the pressures of elite sport and public scrutiny.

Following the show’s renewal for a second season, creator Jacob Tierney previously discussed its broader audience and relevance. “It is nice to be a part of a show that is doing something like this, that’s reminding people that there’s loads of audiences here and that they can be queer and queer adjacent, our allies, our friends, our families,” Tierney said. He added, “If this was just gay people watching this show, we wouldn’t be talking about it right now, let’s be real.”

The series continues to attract attention as its audience grows after the first season finale.