Jacob Tierney Teases ‘The Long Game’ Might Be Split Between Seasons; Addresses Racial Backlash Against Hudson Williams

The Heated Rivalry hype train shows no signs of cooling down anytime soon.

While some details are still under wraps, show creator Jacob Tierney hinted that the highly anticipated Season 2, which is expected to premiere in April 2027, may not cover the entire plot of The Long Game, the sixth and longest installment in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers book series. This book also serves as a direct sequel to Shane Hollander and Ilya Rosanov’s relationship after the events depicted in Heated Rivalry. “Who said I’m doing it all? There’s a lot of material,” Tierney coyly told Deadline, suggesting that some storylines involving Shane and Ilya might continue into another subsequent season.

In The Long Game, Shane and Ilya are forced to confront their fears and insecurities — wrestling with codependency, depression, and self-perception — while trying to maintain the love that binds them. To help craft the complex and mature nuances of the upcoming season, Tierney enlisted Michael Goldbach (North of North) as his co-writer.

​“Mike is not just an old, dear friend of mine who I’ve known for years. He’s legitimately one of my favorite writers,” Tierney said. “I said this to him just the other day because I’m about to read his first draft of a script. I was like, ‘I’m so fucking lucky that I get to read your writing again and it’s for my show.’ He writes with so much heart and humor, and he’s so smart. But he also does a thing where he always zigs where you’re supposed to zag.”

Hudson Williams (Shane Hollander) and Connor Storrie (Ilya Rozanov) in Heated Rivalry

Tierney also explained how the writing duo would remain faithful to the source material while mapping out a new season for the hockey rivals-turned-official-secret-lovers.

“When I talked to Rachel for the first time about Heated Rivalry, I wanted to take this seriously because I think that’s what this material deserves. There’s a version of it that’s pulpy and soapy, but I wanted to take it seriously because I am really transfixed by this relationship,” he said. “Part of what transfixed me was knowing where it was going with The Long Game. Rachel took them very seriously, and these little tidbits in the first book become real issues for them [later]. The Long Game is like sex Scenes from a Marriage. I don’t want to say we are making Bergman here, but you’ve got your happy ending, you’re in love, you get to be in a relationship. But, as most adults know, you think that’s when it gets easy? It’s not. That’s when it gets hard. That’s when you have to make real decisions. That’s when real life can often smack you in the face.”

Is there pressure in trying to balance the new material’s heavy drama with the buzzy onscreen romance? Tierney assures that he and Goldbach have steady hands. “We’re continuing to take this relationship on a journey that will end happily, but along the way is full of ups and downs and realizing loads of shit about yourself, about your partner and about how you want to live and what it means to live as a queer couple in the world and what you want out of your privacy and your public life,” Tierney said. “We’re just continuing to give Shane and Ilya the seriousness that this love affair deserves while also continuing to exist within the confines of the genre that we’re in, which I love. I want them to be happy, but I also want to show that that’s not easy. Because part of what Rachel does so brilliantly in her writing is to give queerness joy, but also not pretend the world isn’t the world. It’s not like she created this world where it’s like, there’s no homophobia and hockey’s amazing, and anyone can come out. No. She shows it’s difficult, takes courage, guts, and sacrifice, and takes stepping up and saying things with your full chest. And that to me is a triumph. That’s what we’re trying to do here.”

With this emotional rollercoaster looming, Tierney is nevertheless excited for everyone to get their hands—and eyes—on it. He is especially enthusiastic for his leads Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, who, of course, have to bear the massive weight of bringing this passionate and slightly dysfunctional relationship to life.

“[Michael’s] script is exactly what I want from acting. It’s what I want from all aspects of this phenomenally collaborative business,” Tierney explained. “I love to be surprised, and I know his writing is going to surprise me. He’s going to put things in that I never thought of, and that’s so interesting and exciting. I feel excited to give Hudson and Connor these scripts again and see what they think and what they’re going to do. Or what my cinematographer Jackson [Parrell] and Aidan [Leroux], my production designer, are going to do. It’s so fun to go back into this world. What a treat for me.”​

Turning to another aspect of the show’s impact, Tierney addressed the complexities of online fandom. The show has seen both support and problematic parasocial behavior as it has grown in massive popularity. This dynamic came to the forefront in March, when Williams and his co-stars, François Arnaud and Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova, addressed discriminatory remarks from a subset of self-proclaimed fans on social media in a joint statement on their respective platforms. Williams has been targeted for his half-Korean heritage. Kharlamova, who is Russian-Trinidadian, has been criticized for playing a character whose book counterpart is white European. And Arnaud has been targeted for his bisexuality.

“Don’t call yourself a fan if you share racist / homophobic /biphobic/ misogynistic/ ageist/ ableist/ parasocial/ bigoted comments of any kind,” the statement read on William’s Instagram. “None of us need your hateful ‘love’. We all respect and support and love each other and are on the same side. If you can’t accept that then gtfoh.”

Cast members Robbie G.K., Reid, and Tierney also reposted the message on their respective Instagram stories.

“We didn’t expect any of this attention or reaction from a public that might not exist at all,” Tierney reflected. “We’ve learned a lot [since the show aired], and there’s a lot to think about moving forward in terms of the fandom and all that comes with it, negative and positive.”

@hudsonwilliamsofficial

Instagram/Hudson Williams

Tierney shared that an overlooked piece of the show’s booming success, in addition to reaching the female, romance, and queer demographics, is that it stars a person of color. “We have a non-white lead. I think that’s fuckin’ important,” he said. “We can learn a few lessons out of that: you don’t need to be making an Asian show to have an Asian lead. Hudson’s a fucking star, man.”

In the past, other actors have expressed similar views. Some feel studio heads and executives have not spoken up enough for them amid dealing with toxic fanbases. Recently, actor Paapa Essiedu told The Times U.K. he was facing major death threats for being cast as Severus Snape in the upcoming HBO TV adaptation of Harry Potter.

HBO Chairman and CEO of HBO and Max Content Casey Bloys told Deadline about his in-house strategy for dealing with the dark side of fandom. “Any big IP-based show will come with built-in fan bases that feel strongly about it. It’s like with anything else: You just have to get in business with people you trust…and have a producing team with them that you believe in and support them as much as you can, to the extent that you can. You must tune out the noise and do the best show possible. Interest can tip over into more unpleasant and aggressive behavior. We talked to [our Harry Potter cast and crew] about what to expect, what to expect on social media, and how we handle it, but any kind of security that’s needed is an unfortunate aspect of doing IP shows. We just try to be mindful and monitor it.”

​Stay tuned for more of Deadline’s conversation with the creatives behind Heated Rivalry, including Sphere Abacus and Bell Media, in our upcoming 2026 Disruptors + Cannes Issue in May.