Heated Rivalry: Why are women obsessed with a gay ice hockey show and begging their friends to watch?

There are memes and clips and viral reactions to every popular TV show but Heated Rivalry viewers have taken obsession to an entirely new level.

Fans are re-watching the entire six-episode series multiple times in a week. They’re reading the books when they haven’t picked up a book in years.

People aren’t just recommending this show to their friends, they are pleading with them to join the cult and watch so they have someone to talk to about what they just witnessed.

What is Heated Rivalry actually about?

There’s a lot of sex, and not a lot of hockey.

Heated Rivalry is the TV adaptation of Rachel Reid’s beloved ice hockey-romance novels and follows Canadian hockey prodigy Shane Hollander and his Russian rival Ilya Rozanov as they navigate a decade-long secret relationship, full of yearning, emotional highs, and steamy moments that leave little to the imagination.

The series dives into the intensity of both their on-ice competition and their private connection, mixing sports drama with deep romance. And it’s refreshingly unapologetic about what it is.

Creator Jacob Tierney summed it up best: “Unashamedly, when pitching, it was just like, this is a Harlequin romance. This has a happy ending”.

“This is about two boys in love and a lot of sex.”

Why are straight women obsessed?

So, why are straight women hooked on a show which is mostly just passionate sex scenes between two men?

For many fans, particularly straight women, the appeal is complicated. Sexologist Naomi Hutchings says she’s not surprised by how many women are watching Heated Rivalry and finding themselves unexpectedly turned on by it.

“Look, I think there are lots of reasons,” Hutchings says. “This is nothing new, we’re just talking about it more.”

Ms Hutchings says a lot of female clients come to her after watching gay male sex and ask “What’s wrong with me?”. She always answers: absolutely nothing.

She explains that part of the fascination lies in the novelty of seeing men’s bodies represented differently, not as dominating, but as desired.

“We’ve always seen women’s bodies objectified, sexualised, and naked on screen,” Hutchings says. “But not so much of men’s bodies.

“I just think it’s important that people feel okay about that. It’s exciting, new, a novelty to see men’s bodies, or men even being romantic and falling in love and doing those things.”

There’s also something fresh and believable about the way intimacy is portrayed between the characters, she adds.

“People often say when they watch heterosexual sex scenes, it feels predictable or unrealistic,” Hutchings says. “In Heated Rivalry, the sex feels raw and authentic. The men make noise, they seem like they’re really enjoying themselves — and that genuine energy can be incredibly arousing to watch.”

She said watching two men in a pornography video rather than a man and a woman can be more realistic and less fake.

“Often, there’s this discussion about them being much freer, making noises, because, you know, depending on what you’re watching, sometimes you might watch porn that’s supposedly, you know, heterosexual porn, and sometimes the men are quiet and they’re focusing on the women. And sometimes it’s not believable”.

“I’m happy that people are watching this and not to feel ashamed that they’re feeling aroused. For some people that’s the only porn they watch.”

“Many people fantasise about things and they never want to do it in real life and that’s okay. I think it’s important to know lots of things turn them on. It doesn’t mean they want to go out and do it. But not to feel bad about that.”

The illusion of equal power

Another factor in the series’ appeal, Hutchings says, is power dynamics.

“Some women tell me they feel more comfortable watching sex between men because they perceive it as more equal,” she says.

“There’s no big gendered difference or fear of misogyny. Even when one partner is more dominant, there’s this underlying assumption that both people have equal power, which can make it feel freer and safer to watch.”

Of course, Hutchings points out, these are perceptions, not universal truths about any relationship. But she says those assumptions play a big role in how some viewers interpret what they see.

That perceived equality, and the representation itself, also matters in the broader cultural context.

For Ms Hutchings, Heated Rivalry’s popularity is encouraging.

“I’m glad people are watching it and not feeling ashamed about what turns them on,” she says. “It’s okay to enjoy something because it’s different, exciting, or because it shows men being vulnerable and affectionate.”

In the end, viewers are finding something freeing in Heated Rivalry not just in watching the characters’ relationship unfold, but in confronting their own ideas about pleasure, power, and attraction.

Heated Rivalry is streaming now on HBO Max in Australia. Excitingly for fans, season two has been confirmed.

Heated Rivalry memes and Tik Toks

SPOILERS INCOMING.