Seeing stars: View Royal fan meets Heated Rivalry star at Victoria airport<\/p>\n
Published 4:30 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2026<\/p>\n
Events got unexpectedly heated for a View Royal artist at Victoria International Airport.<\/p>\n
While waiting to pick up a University of Victoria international student Sunday (March 1), Jen Emile was surprised to spot the star of the runaway hit show Heated Rivalry, Hudson Williams, among the arrivals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI noticed him right away,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I had just seen him on TV on Saturday Night Live in New York \u2013 how could he be here so soon?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dark sunglasses and a baseball cap also made her second-guess herself. Even a brief interaction, when Emile politely told the man his paper bag was ripping, could shed no light on his identity.<\/p>\n
Only after another international student host parent approached Williams and shook his hand was Emile able to confirm she was standing steps away from the Canadian actor she has watched repeatedly since January.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me it was \u2018some actor from Heated Rivalry\u2019,\u201d she recalls.<\/p>\n
After plucking up the courage to introduce herself, Emile told Williams how much Heated Rivalry means to her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him that I love his show, I\u2019m a big fan, and that it\u2019s gotten me through some darker days,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s such a great love story.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emile says Williams told her he had just returned from New York, where he was supporting Heated Rivalry co-star Connor Storrie during his hosting stint on Saturday Night Live.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he had to be back, so he flew all night to get back to Victoria,\u201d said Emile.<\/p>\n
Williams is believed to be on Vancouver Island for the filming of Yaga, a new eight-episode drama series for Canadian streamer Crave, which also stars The Matrix\u2019s Carrie-Anne Moss, Schitt\u2019s Creek\u2019s Noah Reid and Letterkenny\u2019s Clark Backo<\/p>\n
The series is based on the hit play by Kat Sandler, which reimagines the Slavic myth of Baba Yaga \u2013 a child-eating witch that dwells deep in the forest \u2013 as a contemporary mystery thriller set in a small coastal town.<\/p>\n
Williams plays the role of Henry Park, a young heir to a powerful fishery, whose mysterious disappearance sparks an investigation.<\/p>\n
Emile says she did not press Williams about his reasons for being in Greater Victoria \u2013 she was happy to bask in the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kind of wanted to give him his space,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd nobody else came up to him at all, so it was really nice to just have his full attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emile\u2019s connection to Heated Rivalry runs deep. After a friend\u2019s recommendation, Emile first watched the series in January \u2013 and she\u2019s been hooked ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll watch an episode or two every night,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s only six episodes, and I\u2019ve never watched a show on repeat, but this has blown my mind \u2013 it\u2019s just so amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emile is not alone.<\/p>\n
The fictional romance drama about the secret relationship between two closeted male professional hockey players has built a devoted global following, particularly among women.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a show that\u2019s taught a lot of people about hockey, and it\u2019s taught a lot of straight women that their sexuality is \u2018gay guy,\u2019\u201d joked actor Storrie during his Saturday Night Live opening monologue.<\/p>\n
Emile says she understands the appeal for women.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think because there\u2019s no misogyny in it, and it\u2019s just a very beautiful, fictional depiction of the tenderness you can see in men,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd there\u2019s consent \u2013 there\u2019s a lot of things in the show you don\u2019t see all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The series has also sparked creative inspiration for Emile. The already established Metis beader designed and made Heated Rivalry-themed fringe earrings for a Valentine\u2019s Day Indigenous artists\u2019 market she organized. She also sells her line of jewelry online via her Instagram page \u2018OceanLoverJen\u2019.<\/p>\n
Within days of posting her photo with Williams \u2013 a post that has reached over 230,000 people and climbing \u2013 the earrings became hot property among fans worldwide.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody from Australia has already ordered a pair \u2013 a few Canadians too,\u201d said Emile.<\/p>\n
But even as the orders roll in, Emile has no plans to press pause on her new obsession. You can be sure she will still find time to sit back, relax and revisit the love story of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so many little nuances and expressions \u2013 you have to go back and see it over and over,\u201d she said. \u201cThere\u2019s more to it than you realize.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seeing stars: View Royal fan meets Heated Rivalry star at Victoria airport Published 4:30 pm Wednesday, March 4,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":516005,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75],"class_list":["post-516004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=516004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/516004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516005"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=516004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=516004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=516004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}