Heated Rivalry Was Almost Way Less Sexy, 1 Star Reveals

Heated Rivalry was nearly totally watered down, but fans can thank creator Jacob Tierney for saving the steamy show’s spiciness. Star François Arnaud, who plays hockey pro Scott Hunter in the series, told the story of how the first streaming service to pick up the show wanted to tone down the sex scenes, but Tierney refused to comply.

"I don’t think this show could have been made in the U.S," Arnaud said on CBS Mornings. "It was set up at a big streamer before, and they had so many notes and so many thoughts on what that show could be that Jacob decided to leave them and get it made in Canada. Granted it was a much smaller budget, but he was like, ‘I can do the show that I want to make.’"

Arnaud specified that one of the main notes given to the series was that it should have "no kissing until Episode 5," seemingly suggesting that the series shouldn’t show physical intimacy outside of Scott and Kip’s pivotal kiss at the end of the penultimate episode. Obviously, this note was not taken, as a ton of kissing (and much more) is shown between both Scott and Kip and Shane and Ilya from the very beginning and throughout the series.

Arnaud didn’t reveal the name of this “big streamer.” Heated Rivalry ended up being broadcast on the Canadian streaming service Crave, with HBO Max picking up international streaming rights just a couple of weeks before its premiere. Arnaud praised Tierney for sticking to his guns and choosing artistic expression over a bigger distribution opportunity.

"I think that’s what people are responding to and I think in a way it's a huge lesson for Hollywood people," Arnaud said. "This is like a niche show, no movie stars, and it's a [big] sensation."

Tierney has previously spoken about why he feels so strongly about the show’s sex scenes. "It's this very limiting, puritanical way of looking at sex scenes of, you either pan away and 'I don't wanna watch this,' or you omit people's sex lives entirely as though that's not a part of who they are," Tierney told Entertainment Weekly. "We were very aware we're making a horny show. Let it be horny. Enjoy! That's part of the fun of this, right? That's also part of the reaction we're seeing here, is that this show is different because of that."