François Arnaud reveals some streamers wanted ‘no kissing’ in Heated Rivalry before episode five

Heated Rivalry‘s François Arnaud has revealed that the show could have turned out very differently had the creator listened to streaming executives.

The Canadian actor, 40, plays Scott Hunter, an initially closeted ice hockey player for the New York Admirals in the series based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels.

While the series primarily focuses on the relationship between ice hockey rivals Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams), it also tells the story of Hunter’s relationship with Kip Grady (Robbie GK).

Joining Gayle King and Nate Burleson on CBS Mornings on Tuesday (13 January) Arnaud touched on the show’s origins.

The show first debuted on the Canada only streaming service Crave at the end of November. HBO Max picked it up for the US and Australia. Sky/NOW TV did the same in the UK.

“I don’t think this show could have been made in the US,” said Arnaud who then revealed, “It was set up at a big streamer before.”

The Schitt’s Creek star went on to say the streamer “had so many notes and so many thoughts on what that show could be that Jacob [Tierney, the showrunner] decided to leave them and get it made in Canada.”

And despite this meaning it had “a much smaller budget” Arnaud said Tierney was able to make the show he wanted to make. The actor argued this partly explains the show’s popularity.

“I think in a way it’s a huge lesson for Hollywood people,” Arnaud continued. “This is like a niche show, no movie stars and it’s a much bigger sensation.”

When asked for an example of the notes Tierney received before going to Crave, Arnaud shared one: ‘No kissing until episode five’.”

It’s hard to imagine Heated Rivalry without any kind of intimacy until its penultimate episode, considering the intimate scenes are one of the major driving factors of the show’s success. It also would be untrue to the source material given Reid’s books feature frequent intimacy between the male characters.

Looking ahead to season two, Arnaud shared what he would like to see for his character, who came out publicly at the end of episode five and got back together with Kip.

“I’m hoping to see what reality has in store for them. A relationship between someone who’s uber famous has a giant platform and someone who didn’t choose that for themselves, there are still challenges that come with that. I think we might explore that angle but I don’t know,” he said.

Heated Rivalry is streaming now.

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