'Heated Rivalry' Fans Just Got a Milan Fashion Week Moment Thanks to Hudson Williams
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Heated Rivalry fans just got the crossover episode of their dreams: on Jan. 16, Hudson Williams opened the Dsquared2 fall 2026 co-ed show at Milan Men’s Fashion Week, turning the viral queer hockey drama into a full-blown fashion moment. The Canadian actor kicked off the icy, hockey-themed runway in front of snow-dusted fir trees and maple leaf boards, literally leading the pack for designers Dean and Dan Caten.
Williams walked in a look that felt like Shane Hollander off-duty: a green nylon and blue denim patchwork jacket layered over a graphic top, worn with waxed black pants that had a built-in knee-pad effect. Chunky black Dsquared2 boots, buckled and stamped with a red maple leaf, nodded straight to the show’s winter-sports theme — and to all those shots of Shane sprinting down the ice in full gear.
If it seems like Hudson is suddenly everywhere, you’re not wrong. All of this attention loops back to the show that started it: Heated Rivalry, the Crave series (streaming on HBO Max in the U.S.) based on Rachel Reid’s 2019 hockey romance of the same name. The enemies-to-lovers story between rival pros Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) went from niche book fandom to global TV obsession this winter, helping turn sports romance into one of 2026’s buzziest genres. After the show’s premiere, digital activity for Reid’s novel on the Libby library app shot up 698 percent in just three weeks, with more than a 10,000 percent increase in overall activity since 2024.
On screen, the series doesn’t shy away from how hostile pro sports can be for queer players. There still hasn’t been an openly gay player to play in the NHL, per OutSports, though Luke Prokop became the first player under NHL contract to come out as gay in 2021. Williams has said that closeted athletes from hockey, football and basketball have already reached out to him: “The people who reach out, somewhat anonymously, who are like, ‘I’m a professional player still, and I’m still in the closet,'” he explained on Andy Cohen Live, while author Rachel Reid to say how much Shane and Ilya’s story means to them.
At the same time, GLAAD’s most recent “Where We Are on TV” report warns that roughly 41 percent of LGBTQ+ characters are set to disappear from television next season because of cancellations and limited series. In that landscape, a hit, unapologetically queer sports romance led by two young men with massive crossover appeal feels especially rare.
For millennial moms watching from the couch — some with kids who are starting to ask their own questions about gender and sexuality — it’s easy to see why Heated Rivalry hits so hard. The show gives viewers a tender, complicated queer love story inside a culture that hasn’t always made room for those narratives, while resources on being a truly supportive safe space for LGBTQ+ tweens and teens help families carry that conversation beyond the TV screen.
So Hudson Williams striding through Milan in Dsquared2 isn’t just a fun blink-and-you’ll-rewatch-it runway clip (though it’s absolutely that). It’s another little victory lap for a queer hockey love story that moved from book pages to streaming queues to fashion week — and a reminder that the fandom powering all of it is only getting louder heading into Season Two.
Before you go, click here to see our favorite LGBTQ couples on TV.