It seems like the entire world is rooting for Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov. In the past month, Heated Rivalry has exploded into a cultural phenomenon, capturing the hearts of millions of viewers worldwide. 

Even after the season finale dropped on Boxing Day, the Heated Rivalry craze is continuing into the new year with the release of the official soundtrack on music streaming platforms, a GLAAD award nomination, and the series’ release in the UK this Saturday. 

Co-leads Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie are now global breakout stars—along with Williams’ late-night debut this week (and Storrie’s on Monday), the pair is slated to present at the Golden Globes this weekend. 

But before the rest of the world embraced this captivating story of hockey rivals turned lovers, SheDoesTheCity had the chance to speak with Heated Rivalry creator, writer, and director Jacob Tierney ahead of the series’ release. 

Before anyone could predict the massive impact it would make, Tierney was thrilled to be giving Heated Rivalry’s original fanbase the adaptation they’d been waiting for. The Crave original series, which was also picked up by HBO, is based on Canadian author Rachel Reid’s bestselling Game Changers series, which had already garnered a passionate, dedicated following.

“What has been consistent is how kind this fan base is, how generous they are,” Tierney said. “It’s so thrilling to make them happy, to give them the thing that they’ve always wanted to see.”

Tierney tells us he took the responsibility of adapting Reid’s novels very seriously, pushing for the adaptation to be in the format of six one-hour episodes, rather than a film.

“These books are so unabashed, they’re so shameless, they’re so fun, they’re so sexy and smart,” Tierney said. “It feels like a perfect storm.”

The men at the center of that storm, of course, are Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, whose magnetic chemistry both on and off screen has everyone talking. Tierney says that it was not only the connection between Williams and Storrie that makes the series as compelling as it is, but also an impeccable work ethic from both actors. 

“They were so committed to the show, to doing this right…obviously the show lives and dies on them, and their chemistry is so amazing,” Tierney said. “They did so much hockey training, they did so much intimacy training, they did so much to make sure that this show felt as real as it could possibly be.”

When it comes to sex scenes, Heated Rivalry delivers. The spicy scenes are a big part of the series’ draw, and something that Tierney carefully considered when writing and directing, working closely with an intimacy coordinator to choreograph every move.

“Sex is a language for this show. Sex is the way these two guys know each other. They don’t talk a lot, they have sex a lot,” Tierney said. As the series spans over seven years, and the relationship between Shane and Ilya evolves, so does the sex they’re having. 

“They’re at different points in their relationship with each other, their relationship to their sexuality, their relationship to everything that’s going on around them. We’re watching them go through the journeys of a lot of young queer people, figuring who they are, what they want, and what that means for the rest of their lives.”

Having this intimacy between two queer characters placed front and center, unashamedly—that’s something that means a lot to Tierney, and has resonated with so many viewers of the series.   

“For me as a gay man, it’s very, very meaningful to be the architect of a show like this,” said Tierney. “Getting to do a gay love story with a happy ending that’s full of hot sex…this is something that queer people don’t get to see very often.”

As the series is set to be released for even more fans across the globe to watch, and we eagerly await Season 2, the Heated Rivalry craze shows no signs of slowing down. As Tierney told us he hoped would happen, audiences are coming to the series for an escape—one that’s entertaining, heartfelt, and of course, sexy.

“This is ultimately a very romantic and very sweet story, even though it’s naughty…I think that we could all use a bit more spice in our lives,” Tierney said. 

All episodes of Heated Rivalry are streaming now on Crave and HBO.