Heated Rivalry finally confirms actors cast for two major roles: ‘Very important for us’
Shaheen Jafargholi and Daniel Diemer (Image: Getty Images)
Daniel Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi have been cast in Heated Rivalry season two as Ryan Price and Fabian Salah, expanding the show’s queer hockey universe ahead of its spring 2027 return.
Canadian channel Crave confirmed the casting on Instagram, ending weeks of speculation.
In Rachel Reid’s Game Changers books, Ryan and Fabian are the central romance in Tough Guy, the third book, making their arrival a major step in widening the adaptation beyond its core focus on Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov. In the novels, Fabian is an androgynous Lebanese-Canadian musician, who knew gentle giant hockey player Ryan when they were younger and happen upon each other again as adults.
Co-creators Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady said the pair were essential additions to the series, as reported by Variety: “Fabian and Ryan each bring a distinctive energy to the world Rachel Reid has created. They are bold, complicated and deeply compelling characters, and finding actors who could really take on all of those different sides was so important to us.”
They added: “Daniel and Shaheen bring such confidence and emotional honesty to the roles. We can’t wait for audiences to see what they do with Fabian and Ryan and how they make these characters their own.”
Jafargholi will be no stranger to UK audiences, after playing Shakil Kazemi on EastEnders between 2016 and 2018, and then Marty Kirkby in Casualty between 2018 and 2023.
One excited fan joked on X: “Shaheen going from EastEnders to Heated Rivalry is very important for us Brits.”
Meanwhile, Diemer is best known for playing Tyson in Disney+ series Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
How season two fits the books
Season two is adapted from Reid’s sixth novel, The Long Game, which is a direct sequel to Shane and Ilya’s story.
It is also set to draw on Role Model and Tough Guy. Before the casting for Ryan and Fabian was announced, a number of other characters from Tough Guy were cast.
Role Model focuses on the love story of misunderstood, closeted hockey player Troy Barrett (Charlie Gillespie) and loveable social media manager Harris Drover (Justice Smith).
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