Actor Hudson Williams is celebrating a significant milestone for his Heated Rivalry co-star Connor Storrie after information broke that Storrie will make his internet hosting debut on Saturday Evening Reside.
Williams shared his pleasure on social media, writing, “MY BABY BOY ON SNL WHOOOOOO!!!!! ,” a message that shortly drew consideration from followers of the rising stars.
Williams and Storrie presently lead the Canadian sports activities romance sequence Heated Rivalry, portraying rival hockey gamers Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov whose on-ice stress hides a secret relationship. The present, created by Jacob Tierney and primarily based on Rachel Reid’s novel sequence, premiered in 2025 and has already generated buzz for its performances and chemistry between the 2 actors.
Born in Kamloops, British Columbia, Williams is a Canadian actor, author, and director greatest identified for his position as Hollander within the sequence. His enthusiastic congratulatory publish displays the shut skilled bond the duo shaped whereas working collectively on the present.
Saturday Evening Reside stays one in every of tv’s most influential comedy platforms, typically signaling a performer’s arrival in mainstream leisure. Touchdown a internet hosting gig is extensively considered as a career-defining alternative, significantly for rising actors transitioning into broader audiences.
Followers reacted warmly to Williams’ message, praising the supportive friendship between the co-stars and expressing anticipation for Storrie’s look on the long-running sketch present. The second additionally highlights the rising visibility of the Heated Rivalry solid because the sequence continues to increase its fan base.
With Storrie making ready to step onto the enduring Studio 8H stage, trade watchers see the internet hosting position as one other signal that the younger actor’s profession is on a robust upward trajectory — backed, enthusiastically, by his co-star.
Heated Rivalry relies on Rachel Reid’s Sport Changers novel sequence (2018-2026), with the second novel, Heated Rivalry (2019), offering the sequence’ title. Reid drew inspiration from the real-life rivalry between Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin for the e-book. She additionally cited Jaromír Jágr, Teemu Selänne, and Ilya Kovalchuk as different inspirations for the character of Ilya Rozanov, in addition to Wayne Gretzky and Paul Kariya for the character of Shane Hollander.
Jacob Tierney first reached out to Reid on August 7, 2023, a day after The Washington Put up ran an article about hockey romance novels. He had listened to the Sport Changers sequence on audio e-book and needed to debate the potential for adapting them to a restricted tv sequence. Tierney initially had doubts about whether or not the story could possibly be tailored whereas retaining the books’ sexually express content material. Although queer romances such because the younger grownup adaptation Heartstopper had risen in recognition, Tierney stated “the factor that’s so essentially totally different in Heated Rivalry is intercourse. And so I used to be like ‘okay, will anybody need this with that?’ And the factor that was very apparent to me is that they had been inseparable. Intercourse is character growth; it is not only a random intercourse scene in each episode. [The lead characters] find out about one another and so they find out about themselves by way of this”. When assembly with potential financiers for the present, Tierney and co-producer Brendan Brady stated they had been met with studio notes that needed to “essentially change the story, or essentially change the tone”.
In January 2025, it was first introduced that Crave picked up the exhibit a spec script by Tierney. This was confirmed by Reid on her weblog.
