The lead actors from the hit Canadian ice hockey series Heated Rivalry have been selected to participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics.
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie are set to be torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame for the Milan Cortina Games scheduled for February.
Williams, hailing from Kelowna, B.C., portrays Shane Hollander, while Storrie, an American actor, plays Ilya Rozanov in the popular Crave-produced show.
The characters Hollander and Rozanov, depicted as top-tier hockey players and on-ice rivals struggling with their off-ice emotions, have captured audiences globally.
Heated Rivalry is slated to premiere in Italy on Feb. 1 via HBO Max, an official broadcaster for the Milan Cortina Games. Canadian viewers can continue watching the series on Crave.
The Olympic flame is on a 16-day journey leading up to the grand opening ceremony on Feb. 6.
Heated Rivalry has already been confirmed for a second season following its massive success on streaming platforms in North America.
The six-part series is an adaptation of the LGBTQ+ hockey romance series Game Changers by Canadian writer Rachel Reid. The screen version was scripted by Canadian filmmaker Jacob Tierney exclusively for Crave.
Tierney, known for his work on the sitcom Letterkenny and involvement in the hockey comedy Shoresy, serves as the co-writer, director, and executive producer of Heated Rivalry.