Back Arches & Check-Ins | Why “Heated Rivalry” Gets Queer Sex Right

We heard you. LOUDLY.

In this very special holiday Bonus Episode, Ariel and Morgan dive headfirst into Heated Rivalry, the wildly requested gay hockey romance that dropped on November 28 and immediately set the internet on fire. 

Based on Rachel Reid’s beloved romance novels, the series follows Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, two elite professional hockey players whose rivalry turns into a secret, years-long love affair. What starts as a teenage hookup evolves into a deeply emotional, highly physical relationship that unfolds over nearly a decade, on and off the ice. 

Ariel and Morgan break down multiple intimacy scenes from the first two episodes and unpack why Heated Rivalry feels so different from most male-male sex scenes on TV.

They get into it all:

• Why these sex scenes feel unusually realistic, tender, and embodied
• How athletic bodies move differently and why that matters for choreography
• The importance of aftercare, communication, and check-ins onscreen
• What the show gets right about first times, awkward moments, and learning each other’s bodies
• Why queer intimacy is so often shortened and how Heated Rivalry refuses to cut away
• The now-iconic back arch that has gay Twitter in a chokehold

This episode celebrates queer sex that’s messy, hot, funny, imperfect, and deeply human, and why representation like this actually matters. It’s all the spice, none of the filler, and a perfect way to close out the year before we return January 7th. 

Give a Little Queer Holiday Love

Please consider supporting organizations that protect and uplift LGBTQ youth. A few of our favorites:

Trans Lifeline
GLAAD
Transanta

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Credits — Heated Rivalry

Creator / Director / Writer: Jacob Tierney
 Producers: Bell Media / Crave (limited series)
 Intimacy Coordinator: Chala Hunter
 Actors (selected): Hudson Williams (Shane Hollander); Connor Dory (Ilya Rozanov).

 © 2024 Bell Media / Crave. All rights reserved.

Based on the novels: Rachel Reid (Heated Rivalry (2009), The Long Game (2022))

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