Things are getting exciting once more in the realm of hockey romance. Five fresh faces are set to appear in Crave’s popular series, “Heated Rivalry.”
Emily Hampshire, a talented Canadian actress known for her roles in “Schitt’s Creek” and “12 Monkeys,” will portray Vanessa, a character working at a sex shop. Sabrina Jalees, a Canadian comedian and actress, will take on the role of sports agent Farah Jalali, while Priyanka, the winner of the first season of “Canada’s Drag Race,” will play Tarek, an office assistant.
Joining the cast are Robert Naylor, a Canadian actor and musician known for voicing D.W. Read in the animated series “Arthur,” as goaltender Wyatt Hayes, and Edvin Ryding, a Swedish actor who starred as Prince Wilhelm in Netflix’s “Young Royals,” as rookie hockey player Luca Haas.
The new casting details were shared on Instagram by Crave. Season two of “Heated Rivalry” will continue to follow the love story of hockey rivals-turned-lovers Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, based on Rachel Reid’s novel “The Long Game” from the Game Changer series.
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie will reprise their leading roles in the TV adaptation. The first season of the show covered the first two books of Reid’s series, “Game Changer” and “Heated Rivalry.”
With this latest casting announcement, it is anticipated that the third novel in the series, “Tough Guy,” will also be brought to life on screen. Vanessa and Tarek are friends of Fabian Salah, the love interest of hockey player Ryan Price in “Tough Guy.”
The upcoming second season will incorporate the stories of Troy Barrett, a hockey player traded to Ilya’s new team, and Harris Dover, a social media manager, from the fifth novel of the series, “Role Model.”
Justice Smith has been cast as Harris, and Charlie Gillespie, known for his role in “Julie and the Phantoms,” will play Troy in the new season. “Heated Rivalry” season two is set to premiere in spring 2027.