Heated Rivalry Season 2 is now filming and is expected in spring 2027. Daniel Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi join as Ryan Price and Fabian Salah. Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie return as Shane and Ilya. The new season will also expand the story with Role Model material and characters.
What Is the Latest Heated Rivalry Season 2 Cast Update?
Image © 2025 Frazer Harrison / @shaheenjafa via Instagram
Heated Rivalry Season 2 is now in production, with Variety, Entertainment Weekly, Deadline, and TheWrap reporting a spring 2027 premiere window.
The second season keeps Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov at the center while adding new characters from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series. HBO Max will stream the series in the United States.
Who Are Ryan Price and Fabian Salah in Heated Rivalry Season 2?
Daniel Diemer will play Ryan Price, while Shaheen Jafargholi will play Fabian Salah. Their love story comes from Tough Guy, the third book in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series. Ryan is a professional hockey player who struggles with mental health issues, while Fabian is an openly gay indie musician.
- Ryan’s Connection: The Hollywood Reporter notes that Ryan was mentioned in Season 1. Ilya had played with him in Boston, which gives Ryan a direct connection to the main story before his full introduction.
- Fabian’s Circle: Emily Hampshire will play Vanessa, while Priyanka joins as Tarek. Both characters are connected to Fabian in Tough Guy, showing that Season 2 is bringing more of that book’s world to the screen.
- Returning Leads: Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie return as Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov. Their secret fling has grown into love, but keeping their relationship private will remain an important part of the story as their professional hockey careers continue.
How Will Tough Guy and Role Model Expand Heated Rivalry Season 2?
The Long Game, the sixth book in Rachel Reid’s series, continues Shane and Ilya’s story. Executive producer Jacob Tierney has also confirmed that Role Model, the fifth book, will provide source material.
This gives Season 2 more room to explore the wider hockey world instead of focusing on only one couple. Production was announced as underway on August 17, 2026. No exact premiere date has been confirmed, so spring 2027 remains the clearest reported release window for Heated Rivalry Season 2.
- Troy and Harris: Charlie Gillespie plays Troy Barrett, while Justice Smith plays Harris Drover. Their relationship is central to Role Model, with Troy joining the Ottawa Centaurs and Harris working as the team’s social media manager.
- Ottawa Expands: Edvin Ryding, the Swedish actor known for Young Royals, plays Luca Haas, while Robert Naylor plays Wyatt Hayes. These new characters help build out the Ottawa Centaurs and connect more storylines to Ilya’s team.
- More Familiar Faces: Sabrina Jalees plays Farah Jalali, Shane and Ilya’s agent. The wider Game Changers world also includes characters such as Scott Hunter and Kip Grady, who appeared through earlier source material.
- What This Means: Season 2 can combine The Long Game with parts of Role Model while also introducing characters from Tough Guy. That gives viewers several connected relationships and storylines without moving Shane and Ilya away from the emotional center.
Final Thoughts
Heated Rivalry Season 2 is shaping up to expand the hockey world introduced in the first season while keeping Shane and Ilya as the central couple. After more than a decade of complicated feelings between the rival hockey players in Rachel Reid’s books, their story continues alongside new relationships.
New cast members bring Ryan, Fabian, Troy, Harris, Vanessa, and Tarek into the series. Brendan Brady and Jacob Tierney are also widening the Game Changers book universe without losing Shane’s story. With production officially announced and a spring 2027 window reported, viewers now have a clearer idea of what comes next.
FAQs
Yes, Season 2 is filming after production was officially announced as underway in August 2026, with new cast members joining the returning stars.
Connor Storrie’s shorter haircut appears to be connected to Ilya’s Season 2 look, but the scanned sources do not provide a confirmed explanation, so claims about the reason should be treated cautiously.
No, Shane and Ilya remain the central couple, but Ryan and Fabian from Tough Guy and Troy and Harris from Role Model will expand the story with relationships intended to have the same depth.
Ryan and Fabian are a couple from Rachel Reid’s books, with Ryan connected to professional hockey and Fabian to Toronto’s music scene; Ryan was also briefly mentioned in the first season.
The growing cast includes Justice Smith, Charlie Gillespie, Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees, and Priyanka, who is playing Tarek, a character associated with an immigration services organization in the books.