Good news, Heated Rivalry fans: Shane and Ilya are officially coming back. Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie will return as the much-loved hockey rivals when Season 2 arrives on Sky and NOW in Spring 2027, and you best believe we are already packing for the cottage. Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie are also joining the cast as Harris Drover and Troy Barrett. An exact premiere date has not yet been announced, but after the wait, even a release window feels like a win.
Smith, whose credits include I Saw the TV Glow and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, will play Harris. Gillespie, known for Julie and the Phantoms, Splitsville and Suze, takes on the role of Troy.
Readers of Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series will recognise Harris and Troy as the couple at the heart of Role Model. Troy is a professional hockey player who joins the Ottawa Centaurs, where Harris works as the team’s social media manager. Their romance will unfold alongside Shane and Ilya’s continuing relationship, which means Season 2 is giving fans two much-loved couples to root for.
Writer, director and executive producer Jacob Tierney and executive producer Brendan Brady praised Smith and Gillespie for understanding the vulnerability and resilience at the heart of their characters. They said the two actors created something special together from the beginning of the casting process.
The first season followed rival hockey players Shane and Ilya as their secret fling developed into a years-long relationship shaped by ambition, denial and the pressure of hiding who they were from the wider hockey world.
Season 2 will continue their story, with The Long Game providing its main source material and elements of Role Model bringing Harris and Troy into the series. The two novels take place across a similar period, allowing both relationships to develop alongside each other.
Tierney returns as writer, director and executive producer, with Mike Goldbach joining as a co-writer. Brendan Brady and Jayme Alter Wilson also executive produce, Rachel Reid remains a consulting producer and production is underway.
For CultureCues, this is exactly the update we have been waiting for. We are huge fans of the series and already desperate for more Shane and Ilya, so can we just hibernate through winter and wake up in Spring 2027? Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie feel like brilliant choices for Harris and Troy, and we cannot wait to fall in love with their relationship too. We are especially happy to see more of Gillespie on our screens because, yes, we are still salty about Julie and the Phantoms being cancelled. Knowing The Long Game and Role Model will develop alongside each other has sent us straight back into obsession mode. Spring cannot come quickly enough. We are coming to the cottage!
Heated Rivalry Season 2 will premiere on Sky and NOW in the UK and Ireland in Spring 2027.
Nikki Murray is a UK-based writer, screenwriter and founder & editor of CultureCues, covering film, television, music and pop culture. Her work focuses on storytelling and the moments shaping modern entertainment.