{"id":562777,"date":"2026-08-08T12:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/562777\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T12:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T12:06:08","slug":"heated-rivalry-casts-harris-and-troy-as-season-two-release-window-confirmed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/562777\/","title":{"rendered":"Heated Rivalry casts Harris and Troy as season two release window confirmed"},"content":{"rendered":"

Few shows released in the UK this year have made anywhere near as much of a splash as steamy hockey romance Heated Rivalry<\/a> \u2013 and we can expect things to turn up another notch when it returns for a second run.<\/p>\n

Sky once again has exclusive UK rights to the mega-hit Canadian series, and it has just confirmed that the follow-up season will have it’s UK and Ireland release in spring 2027<\/a>, although no specific dates have been revealed just yet.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the series has also just announced two major cast additions for the next run, with Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie set to play new characters Harris Drover and Troy Barrett, who readers of Rachel Reid’s book series will know are set to be central to events.<\/p>\n

Smith has appeared in key roles in a number of films in recent years, including Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, I Saw the TV Glow, and Now You See Me: Now You Don’t, while Gillespie is best known for his role in the 2020 Netflix series Julie and the Phantoms and has had film roles in Splitsville and the upcoming One Night Only.<\/p>\n

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They will both be billed as series leads alongside the returning Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie for the second season.<\/p>\n

“Rachel Reid has given us two beautifully layered characters in\u202fHarris\u202fand\u202fTroy\u202fwho you can\u2019t help but root for,” said writer, director, and executive producer Jacob Tierney and executive producer Brendan Brady in a joint statement.<\/p>\n

The continued: “From the start of the casting process, we knew we were looking for actors who could create something truly special together and bring that same depth and heart to the screen.<\/p>\n

“Justice and Charlie do exactly that. They\u202fimmediately\u202fconnected with the vulnerability and resilience at the core of these characters, bringing an instinctive understanding of who\u202fHarris and\u202fTroy are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interestingly, Big Mistakes star Jack Innanen had previously publicly thrown his hat into the ring to play one of the major new parts and was reportedly offered a starring role, but he had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts, according to Entertainment Weekly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The first run debuted across the Atlantic towards the end of last year before arriving on these shores in January, and became an instant sensation with TV fans.<\/p>\n

Based on Reid’s novel Game Changers, it told\u202fthe story of rival hockey players Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) who began a secret fling that evolved into a years-long journey of love, denial, and self-discovery.<\/p>\n

The second season will adapt the sequel novel, titled The Long Game, the synopsis of which reads: “Ten years. That\u2019s how long Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov have been seeing each other. How long they\u2019ve been keeping their relationship a secret. From friends, from family\u2026from the league.<\/p>\n

“If Shane wants to stay at the top of his game, what he and Ilya share has to remain secret. He loves Ilya, but what if going public ruins everything?<\/p>\n

It continues: “Ilya is sick of secrets. Shane has gotten so good at hiding his feelings, sometimes Ilya questions if they even exist. The closeness, the intimacy, even the risk that would come with being open about their relationship\u2026Ilya wants it all.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s time for them to decide what\u2019s most important \u2013 hockey or love. It\u2019s time to make a call.”<\/p>\n

Heated Rivalry seaon one is now available on Sky and NOW<\/a> \u2013 sign up for Sky TV here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Add Heated Rivalry to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app<\/a> \u2013 download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.<\/p>\n

Check out more of our Drama<\/a> coverage or visit our TV Guide<\/a> and Streaming Guide<\/a> to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Few shows released in the UK this year have made anywhere near as much of a splash as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":562778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[156,111,139,69,437],"class_list":["post-562777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=562777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/562777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/562778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=562777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=562777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=562777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}