Heated Rivalry: Gay Olympian Gus Kenworthy reveals this female musician was his ‘Rose Landry’

Gay Olympic skier Gus Kenworthy revealed that a famous musician was his version of Shane Hollander’s love interest Rose Landry, as he shares how he related to the closeted gay characters of Heated Rivalry.

The 34-year-old, who will be representing Team GB at this year’s Winter Olympics in Italy, came out as gay in 2015. However, before that, he was romantically linked to Miley Cyrus. That experience, Kenworthy says, paralleled the show’s depiction of Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and movie star Rose Landry (Sophie Nélisse).

Heated Rivalry follows the central, forbidden romance of Ilya (Connor Storrie) and Shane. However, along the way, the latter gets into a relationship with the lovely Rose, who gently helps him come out. 

“At first, I didn’t understand the big deal,” Kenwrothy said in an interview with The New Yorker about Heated Rivalry.

“It was fun to watch, but it was sort of smut. I honestly thought, ‘All these thirsty gays! Y’all are just horny.’ Like, you could watch porn?

“People kept telling me, ‘Just wait – it tugs on the heartstrings.’ And then it did. The third episode changed things for me.”

The third episode shifts focus to closeted hockey player Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and his secret love interest, barista Kip (Robbie GK).

‘Miley Cyrus was my own Rose’

“I actually wrote a message to the show’s creator [Jacob Tierney] because I was so moved, and didn’t expect to be,” Kenworthy continued.

“And I don’t think l’ve ever seen myself reflected onscreen like that, in such a substantial way. The parallels are kind of insane.

“I also had a secret relationship with these clandestine meetings and hookups. And Miley Cyrus was my own Rose, this famous person that I was suddenly linked to, and as much as I kind of wanted it – because that’s the person you would want to be with if you’re straight, someone successful and beautiful and talented – it’s not the same as when you’re with a guy.”

Since the show has been the talk of the town, Cyrus herself weighed in. She declared that she’s “so in” to contribute music for season two.

She shared: “I have not watched yet, but this is on my to-do list now. It’s all I’ve heard about, every conversation I’ve had today has started with you, ‘You have to [watch it].’”

“I had the same yearning – to be in love, to be public”

Gus Kenworthy also revealed he “really related” to the character of Scott.

“He wanted to be out, but really, just truly felt like he couldn’t be, because of his circumstances,” Kenworthy noted.

“That was me for so many years. I had the same yearning – to be in love, to be public, and to not have to hide.”

Kenworthy’s statement arrives as he comes out of retirement for his fourth Olympics.

During his time away from the sport, he has made NSFW homemade jockstraps and launched an LGBTQ+ book club with Dylan Mulvaney. He’s also starred in the horror anthology series American Horror Story and appeared on RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars.

Heated Rivalry is streaming now on Crave in Canada, HBO in the US and Sky and Now TV in the UK.