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I hadn't read nor even heard of the book series, Game Changers by Rachel Reid, before the TV series was launched. I'd been an occasional fan of Canadian auteur Jacob Tierney for years, remembering him for his acting gigs in certain independent productions. But I had no idea Jacob was about to launch a revolution of queer arts and entertainment with his adaptation of said book series.
I had heard the books were pretty explicit in their descriptions of gay sex, so I, like many, wondered if this television adaptation would skimp on the explicitly hot gay sex, tone it down for wider audiences, like many TV shows featuring queer romances usually do.
I was as pleasantly surprised as everybody when the first episode landed and word got out about the incredibly hot and frequently naked lead actors performing several steamy sex scenes in the first episode alone. Could television be actually delivering on a promise? Could it be breaking new ground?
I haven't seen gay sex this authentic and sensually shot for television or film since...ever. Most auteurs in a vain attempt to stay "artsy" or "respectable" or to appease their queasy financiers always find ways to cut away during gay sex scenes, to keep it off screen and enveloped in tragedy to keep we gays in our place. Sure we can have fun (off-camera) as long as we're miserable and die tragically. It's a tried and true formula Hollywood has embraced for decades. The closest I can remember a gay TV show got this steamy was Queer As Folk which aired in the early 2000s, and never earned as wide an audience that Heated Rivalry seems to have tapped into in 2025.
Since its launch, I've consumed the first five episodes and will be watching the finale of season one tonight, December 26th. The show has struck a chord because of its sweet, sexy authenticity, its zippy pace and touching acting and writing. Sure, being closeted can be hell for queer people, and this show captures the agony and anxiety more ably than Queer As Folk ever did. And yes, the sex that happens for some closeted men can be as hot as it's tastefully been depicted in Heated Rivalry. That sex usually is raw, animalistic and mutually enjoyable - perhaps so hot, that gay men in these situations do crawl through several stages of closeted hell in order to experience the same fun again over and over, in clandestine locations, being careful until the doors are shut, the blinds drawn or you're so far away from others there's no way anyone will overhear your shouts of man-on-man ecstasy.
But don't get me wrong: this is not pornography. Heated Rivalry is much more than its steamy scenes, which do serve the major purpose of fleshing out the relationship between the two leads, who only at first have these intimate moments alone. But as time goes on, the focus moves to their relationship and burgeoning love. By episode five, the hot sex gives way to tender romance. It's moving and authentic. Nothing this culturally relevant can be reduced in description to "just porn". If anyone you know makes this silly accusation about it, tell them they need to be watching better porn and perhaps give their heads a shake about this lovely show.
Unknown actors before this series, Hudson Williams (as Shane Hollander) and Connor Storrie (as Ilya Rozanov) are superbly charismatic, touching, compelling lovers, as well as darlings on the PR circuit. I've become a regular YouTube consumer of their cute shorts and videos as they've seemingly appeared everywhere promoting the show.
In a year when a fascist, rapist, violent, criminal, seditionist creep of a U.S. President unleashed his literal insanity on this broken world, when violent male power and toxic masculinity is in its 2025 ascendancy, and truly evil people are feeling very powerful and immune right now from justice and accountability, those good among us left really needed Heated Rivalry.
The repeatedly hot man-on-man sex, with its frequent re-communicating of consent between the characters as they fuck away, constantly checking in to make sure they're still "good" and enjoying it, was the perfect counterbalance to a culture in America where the powers-that-be are obsessed with protecting powerful predatory straight men. Women can tune into a good TV romance involving very hot men who show more respect and care for each other than most so-called straight romances. And they can see the hottest man-on-man action they've probably ever seen in mainstream entertainment, along with the life-affirming reminder that people can and really do treat each other with tenderness and even love.
This YouTube commentary by a favourite of mine, Emma Vigeland, from The Majority Report (generally a political commentary independent media hit pushing the progressive politics that America needs) sums up the sentiments of many women perfectly.
Congratulations to the show's creators, especially my new hero Jacob Tierney, who really has tapped into the zeitgeist and given the world the perfectly hot gay romance show we needed this year! Thank you, Jacob, and everyone else involved in this awesome show!
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