Heated Rivalry gets special Google treatment with cute season 2 message

Heated Rivalry may have been in our lives since the end of November but the internet’s obsession with the series is still going strong. And Google has playfully referenced this whilst also looking ahead to season two.

For those that have missed the furore until now – we can’t imagine it’s that many! – Heated Rivalry is the LGBTQ+ sports drama that has gripped the internet. Based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels, the series follows the love story of rival ice hockey players Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) and Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams).

First debuting at the end of November, landing in the UK at the start of 2026, the series quickly built a large fanbase thanks in part to the charisma and chemistry of its lead stars on and off screen, the series’ sex scenes, and emotional storytelling.

Unsurprisingly, the show’s creators confirmed a second season before 2025 was up with hints coming on a couple of occasions that a third is a strong possibility.

Referencing the continued hype for Heated Rivalry, Google has implemented a sweet message designed to appeal to the show’s fans.

If you Google ‘Heated Rivalry‘ you’ll see the usually search results. However, at the top of the screen a series of messages appear and disappear mimicking a conversation between Rozanov and Hollander using the character’s in-universe aliases.

Because of the secret nature of their romance, the two characters swap numbers and adopt women’s names so it would appear as if each man is messaging a woman if overseen by teammates, family, or friends. Rozanov takes the name ‘Lily’ while Hollander is ‘Jane’.

“Still obsessed with us?” the first message from Lily/Rozanov reads. “I’m not obsessed with anything!” Jane replies in Hollander’s typical defensive tone to Rozanov’s playful digs. Speaking to the fans, Lily then types: “How many times have you looked us up?” The response: “I don’t know. Maybe twice?”

After Lily responds with a winking emoji, Jane taps out: “See you next season :).”

Sadly, season two is a long way off. Likely to adapt The Long Game, the next chapter in Rozanov and Hollander’s story in Reid’s series, the second season is not expected to be with us until 2027.

Speaking about future seasons in the past, showrunner Jacob Tierney has sought to temper fans’ expectations and repeated on a couple of occasions he doesn’t want to rush a second season just to satiate the clear appetite. Speaking to Variety in December, Tierney said he had written “zero” scripts for season two.

In January, Storrie suggested season two will film this summer, which HBO’s Casey Bloys backed up in a recent interview. However, that could relate to the possible “stand-alone episode to bridge the gap” recently teased by Bell Media’s (the company behind the streamer who produced the series, Crave) Justin Stockman.

Williams, Storrie, and François Arnaud have all shared some ideas of what they’d like to see happen next for their respective characters. Williams teased the most likely direction for Rozanov and Hollander’s story last month when he said season two could involve “more of an external battle”.

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