On Thursday, HBO Max announced more additions to the “Heated Rivalry” Season 2 cast.
Emily Hampshire, of “Schitt’s Creek”; Priyanka, singer and Season 1 winner of “Canada’s Drag Race”; Edvin Ryding, of “Young Royals”; Robert Naylor, of “Immortals”; and Sabrina Jalees, comedian and cast member of “Carol’s Second Act,” are joining hockey stars and lovers Shane (Hudson Williams) and Ilya (Connor Storrie).
Naylor will star as popular “Game Changers” series character Wyatt Hayes. Hampshire will star as Vanessa, Priyanka as Tarek, Ryding as Luca Haas and Jalees as Farah Jalali.
On Aug. 7, Crave announced Charlie Gillespie and Justice Smith were joining the cast.
Smith will portray Harris, the social media manager for the Ottawa Centaurs, and Gillespie will be Troy, a forward for the team. Their romance plays out in Rachel Reid’s “Role Model,” part of the “Game Changers” series that serves as the inspiration for the TV series.
“Rachel Reid has given us two beautifully layered characters in Harris and Troy who you can’t help but root for,” said executive producers Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady. Tierney also serves as creator and co-writer of the series.
Season 1 of the series ends with Ilya making plans to be traded from the Boston Raiders to the Centaurs so he can be closer to Shane, who is captain of the Montreal Metros.
In “Role Model,” Ilya becomes captain of the Centaurs and helps Troy—also recently traded—become more comfortable with his new team while separating himself from a toxic past and learning more about himself in the process.
Season 2 of the series will also adapt portions of Reid’s “The Long Game,” which focuses on Shane and Ilya’s relationship after the latter’s move to Ottawa and how they navigate a more serious relationship while trying to avoid it becoming public.
François Arnaud and Robbie G.K.’s characters Scott and Kip, whose romance was first explored in Season 1, are also expected to appear in Season 2.
Also on Aug. 7, Reid posted a photo of a stack of printed pages with a red pen resting on top.
In a caption, she wrote: “I hope you guys like Ilya and Shane …” In interviews since the release of the first season of the TV show, she’s mentioned multiple times that she’s been working on the seventh book of the book series—“Unrivaled.” She said the book will be a continuation of Shane and Ilya’s romance, which was first featured in Book 2, “Heated Rivalry” and again in Book 6, “The Long Game.”
“Heated Rivalry” is expected to return to screens in spring 2027.
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