The viral stars mirrored their fictional hockey characters by playing a main role in the upcoming 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic Winter Games.
MILAN, Italy — They melted hearts while battling on the ice. Now, they’ve carried the flame for the world’s top athletes.
The stars of HBO Max’s viral queer hockey show “Heated Rivalry” joined the Olympic Torch Relay for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Sunday.
Breakout stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, who in the show play Canadian hockey player Shane Hollander and Russian hockey player Ilya Rozanov respectively, were selected as official torch bearers for the lead up to the games.
According to Variety, Williams and Storrie carried the flame on the 49th leg of the torch relay in the late afternoon in the town of Feltre.
“Heated Rivalry” was originally produced by the Canadian streaming service Crave but quickly became a hit after HBO Max picked up the rights to the show in late November. Its popularity rocketed it to become the top-rated non-animated acquired series since its launch in 2020, according to Variety. The show is based on author Rachel Reid’s popular “Game Changers” book series, which follows a steamy romance between the two pro hockey stars.
Though hockey has been around in the Olympics for decades, the show’s popularity may trigger a spike in viewership for the sport.
U.S. fans may be treated to one of the nation’s strongest teams heading to the Olympics. USA Hockey General Manager Bill Guerin told the team that nothing but gold would suffice after the team fell short of winning at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February.
The U.S. has not won a so-called “best-on-best” international competition at the adult level in three decades, dating to the 1996 World Cup of Hockey. It has not won men’s gold at the Olympics since the 1980 “Miracle on Ice” team. But the overflowing talent and the winning pedigree of the players going to Italy make Guerin’s expectation as realistic as ever.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.