Heated Rivalry Stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie Partake in Olympic Torch Relay in Italy
The Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie side quest of the day — serving as Olympic torchbearers. The Heated Rivalry stars took part in the Olympic torch relay in Feltre, Italy, on Sunday ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. HBO Max announced Thursday that the duo would appear as torchbearers; however, it wasn’t…
The Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie side quest of the day — serving as Olympic torchbearers.
The Heated Rivalry stars took part in the Olympic torch relay in Feltre, Italy, on Sunday ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games. HBO Max announced Thursday that the duo would appear as torchbearers; however, it wasn’t announced when or where they’d pop up throughout the relay. The streamer is carrying the Games in Europe.
Williams and Storrie, both in official white, pink and yellow fits, had their own moment as torchbearers, with Williams passing off the flame to Storrie. The pair posed together, and Williams could be heard in video released by the Olympics account hyping Storrie up with, “Go papi, go papi,” as he lit his co-star’s torch. In another video on the Olympics social media accounts, Williams is seen holding the torch and telling the crowd, “This is crazy.”
Sunday’s relay was just the latest appearance for two newcomers, who shot to stardom in the Jacob Tierney-created series. Williams recently made his runway debut, walking in Dsquared2’s Milan Fashion Week show. Storrie’s been busy on his end, appearing on both Late Night With Seth Meyers and Today in the same week. The pair were the talk of the Golden Globes, despite attending only to present an award, and the parties that preceded the awards show.
Heated Rivalry, hailing from Canadian streamer Crave and airing on HBO Max in the U.S., centers on a fictional hockey universe based on books by Rachel Reid.The show focuses on two rival professional players — Canada-born Shane Hollander (Williams) of the fictitious Montreal Metros and Russia-born Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) of the fictitious Boston Raiders — as they navigate a near-decade-long situationship turned relationship.
Crave renewed Heated Rivalry for a second season, and HBO Max confirmed it will continue to air the series. Reid has announced that she’ll be publishing her seventh book in the Game Changers series, which Heated Rivalry and its sequel The Long Game belong to. The book, Unrivaled, will be the next chapter in Shane and Ilya’s story. New York City’s mayor, Zohran Mamdani, told residents of the city to consider staying home Sunday amid a large snow storm and instead read Reid’s book series, which the library is offering free downloads of throughout the storm.
