Bad Bunny and Ilya from ‘Heated Rivalry’? Here’s the Surprising Connection
Credit: HBO Max
Heated Rivalry Season 1 is now over, and the little Canadian show that could has not just taken the internet by storm, but secured a second season. The show, based on Rachel Reid’s book, stars Hudson Williams as Shane and Connor Storrie as Ilya, two hockey players who embark on a decades-long secret relationship.
If you haven’t checked it out, run, don’t walk. And if you have, you know that when the show returns, it will adapt another Rachel Reid book featuring the same characters: The Long Game. And even though neither of the two main characters are members of our communities, and though hockey is very much a sport where Latines are the minority, there’s one particular detail that is relevant to point out about the upcoming book, and hopefully adaptation: Ilya is a Bad Bunny fan.
And okay, who isn’t? But this isn’t just a vibes thing. It is an actual canon one. In Chapter 9 of the sequel to Heated Rivalry, Reid writes: “Ilya drummed his fingers on the steering wheel to the rhythm of the Bad Bunny song that he’d recently added to his pregame playlist. He needed to get his fill of good music now because it was Evan Dykstra’s turn to be in charge of the locker room music, and that meant country.”
So, let’s summarize. Not only does Ilya Rozanov listen to Bad Bunny, he thinks it’s good music. That’s what one could call a fan.
There was no Bad Bunny in Season 1 of the show, but we’re just saying… Heated Rivalry is now a big cultural moment. So is Bad Bunny. Bringing the two together at some point in Season 2 only makes sense. And hey, Ilya does seem like the type to enjoy “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS.”
All episodes of Heated Rivalry Season 1 are now available to watch on HBO Max.