Dark ‘reason’ Hudson Williams is more successful after Heated Rivalry than Connor Storrie

After the success of Heated Rivalry, Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams have been getting lots of career opportunities, but people think they’ve figured out why Hudson seems to be the standout favourite.

Canadian ice hockey drama Heated Rivalry was released late last year and immediately went viral. The TV adaptation of the book series Game Changers follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Grigoryevich Rozanov, two sports rivals, and their secret romance. The fandom for Heated Rivalry is massive, with millions of posts tagged with the show on TikTok and X.

connor storrie went from not being invited to the joker premiere to becoming hbo max’s it boy and making his a24 debut in a movie with simone ashley and laura dern in three months pic.twitter.com/awV1Y2hJzy

— charlotte! (@snoopysrozanov) February 18, 2026

The series has launched the careers of Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, who were previously relatively unknown actors. Videos and photos of them before fame show just how quickly their lives have changed due to the show’s success – they were both working as waiters right before filming.

Hudson Williams has just been announced as the official face of Balenciaga. Just a few months into his mainstream career, the actor has been in a lot of big fashion shows and constant visibility in both the fashion world and Hollywood. Connor Storrie had a more established acting career before the series, and has signed to huge Hollywood agency CAA (Creative Artists Agency),

Hudson Williams stuns in new photo. pic.twitter.com/9Tlb6w715y

— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 9, 2026

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People have noticed that Hudson has been getting a lot of mainstream media attention after Heated Rivalry, and the theory why is dark, but makes sense. Heated Rivalry has grown a large viewership of straight women, and some of them have been quite toxic towards the gay couple of the show, inserting themselves into the relationship.

As the only person in the pair who has a public girlfriend, people think some Heated Rivalry viewers are projecting themselves into Hudson, as he appears more stereotypical “straight” than Connor.

There’s been a lot of speculation around the sexuality of the two lead actors, who have understandably not made any strong statements either way. As people interpret Connor as more “feminine” than Hudson – something they’ve based on his presence in interviews – there’s a growing worry that he’ll face more persecution as a queer actor.

Its still very early days in both their careers, and with season two of heated Rivalry filming this summer, I’m sure they’re both only going up from here.

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