Heated Rivalry director gives hilarious, sweary and explicit response to gay sex scenes criticism

As we skate towards the Heated Rivalry finale, showrunner Jacob Tierney has offered insight into exactly how he shot the show’s much-talked-about gay sex scenes.

Based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels, the TV series has mainly focused on the story of Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), two rival ice hockey players who enter into a secret fling.

Much of the show’s early episodes orbit the pair’s heady sexual attraction that unfolds in dim hotel rooms. However, the mechanics behind creating such moments of sexual intimacy 

Speaking to Vulture, Tierney broke down the elements that went into shooting such moments and his work with intimacy coordinator Chala Hunter.

Comparing the scene filming to “stuntwork”, Hunter noted she and Tierney wanted to be “as technical and precise as possible.”

She continued: “I wanted to make sure we were representing queer sex — specifically gay male sex — in a way that felt authentic to the community.”

‘I never want to assume anybody has experienced anything’

Tierney also responded to the questions and criticism some have had about the first time the pair have penetrative sex.

“People are like, When did Shane prep?” Tierney said. “This is not a documentary. You wanna watch them douche? 

“You want me to include Shane in the bathroom for half an hour with the f***ing enema? That’s not what we’re doing here. We’re skipping that part.”

Furthermore, Tierney revealed the atmosphere he created on set to achieve the erotic but vulnerable state of the scenes. The showrunner noted that he had open dialogues with both actors to create a framework. 

“I said this to the boys before everything: I don’t care what you’ve done,” Tierney explained. “I never want to assume anybody has experienced anything, so I’m gonna say some stuff out loud. In my experience, the first time you’re penetrated feels like this.”

“Connor would be like, Okay, when I press that way on your thigh, that means I’m halfway in,” says Tierney. “They just created a whole language for it.”

Hunter also teased that in the sixth and final episode of series one, Storrie improvised in a scene that left the crew in stitches.

“I couldn’t stop laughing,” she remembered. These actors are so bold. I can’t overstate how much of these characters they just brought.

“We kept saying, Oh my God, I can’t believe they’re doing that.”

Heated Rivalry is streaming now on Crave in Canada and HBO in the US. The show has a UK release on Sky and streaming service NOW from 10 January.