Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov in "Heated Rivalry."
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in "Heated Rivalry."

Move over, "Bridgerton." The award for the hottest, steamiest, most-talked-about romance on TV goes to ... a Canadian romance about two professional male hockey players who fall in very explicit love. Yes, seriously.

Meet HBO Max's "Heated Rivalry" (streaming Fridays). The Canadian import series series, featuring young stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie as the hockey stick-crossed lovers, has been making quite a stir since it debuted on Nov. 28 with two episodes that would make even the streaming home of "Game of Thrones" and "True Blood" blush. And there are four episodes left in the the first season ready to heat up this cold December.

So how did this tiny little show from up North rise to No. 6 on the HBO Max top 10 charts (as of Dec. 4) and spawn thousands of screaming reaction videos on TikTok and Instagram? Some spicy source material, great young stars and X-rated content all add up to one of the most talked-about-shows of the year.

Here's everything to know about "Rivalry," including how to see it for yourself.

What is 'Heated Rivalry' about? Is it based on a book?

"Rivalry" is based on a book series by Rachel Reid called "Game Changers" and dubbed "A Spicy Gay Hockey Romance." The series follows Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie), two of the best hockey players of their generation, over a years-long love story. They meet in competition and then are drawn together and apart as they join rival professional hockey teams and face off on the ice ... and in the bedroom. Both also struggle with the demands of their families, their identities as gay men in the closet and athletes in the public eye, and how vulnerable they can be with each other.

Watch the trailer for 'Heated Rivalry'

Just how explicit is 'Heated Rivalry'?

"Rivalry" is heavy on the sex and nudity from its very first episode. Its love scenes are about as explicit as you can get on TV, even on ratings-free streaming services like HBO Max. It is certainly not a show you want to watch with your parents.

What are the stars of 'Heated Rivalry' saying?

Williams and Storrie have great chemistry onscreen and as co-stars, and have been talking about how they made their love story so intense in interviews.

“We’re both pretty tactile people in terms of love languages and how you express yourself,” Storrie told entertainment site Swooon. “We both like physical touch, whether it’s with friends, family, partners. When these characters are feeling good towards each other, I think we knew consciously to allow that to come out. The fun of that ends up being what it looks like [for Shane and Ilya], and how it is different from us, personally. That’s an impulse that is kind of naturally within us. We also became super close, super quick, so that makes it even easier, too.”

“Sometimes, a rough sex scene might be easier than just a conversational scene where you want to kind of touch a leg or touch a shoulder,” Williams added. “It can feel like a 10-mile drive to brush a cheek. But we had such a good relationship that I was able to express myself in that way through Shane and with Connor. That was really lovely.”

How has the director of 'Heated Rivalry' addressed speculation about the stars' sexuality?

Fans have been speculating online about the sexuality of the both actors, but series creator Jacob Tierney (who also created beloved Canadian hockey shows "Letterkenney" and "Shoresy") has tried to shut down that kind of chatter.

"I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff," Tierney told Xtra. "And that’s what’s so impressive about both of these guys is they came into this being like, ‘Yeah, we’re here to do this, and we are here to make this story feel authentic and to be as real as possible.’ And they [expletive] hit it out of the park."

Who is watching 'Heated Rivalry'? Queer men, and a lot of women

The "Game Changers" books are a sensation on BookTok, the community on TikTok for all lovers of reading that is dominated by women. Similarly, women appear to be a huge portion of the audience devouring the TV show on HBO Max.

Tierney discussed this very female section of the viewers of the series in an interview with Teen Vogue:,“I always said, ‘Once you film this, gay men will watch it, but we’ll watch anything with gay men in it," he said. "The secret fan base of this is women.”

As New York Magazine's The Cut put it, "The popularity of the show represents the mainstreaming of “fujoshis,” or female fans of male-male romance, to put it simply."

That said, many gay men are watching, and commenting on the series. Out magazine dedicated an entire article to the increasingly humorous social media reactions to the show, including some calling it "genuinely insane" and a "perfect show." One YouTuber called it "the gay show of the year."

When do new episodes of 'Heated Rivalry' debut?

The six episode first season of the series will debut new episodes every Friday through Dec. 26.

Will there be a Season 2 of 'Heated Rivalry'?

No word on that yet. The series airs on Canadian streaming service Crave and was only acquired by HBO Max, not produced by it. The book series has six installments (so far).

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: All about 'Heated Rivalry,' HBO Max's explicit gay hockey romance

Reporting by Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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