Los Angeles, Jan 6 (.) Hudson Williams, who starred in “Heated Rivalry”, is poised to reach a new career milestone as he prepares to make his late-night television debut on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week.
The episode will also feature appearances by Chelsea Handler and Sophie Turner, with Sienna Spiro taking the stage as the musical guest, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
Williams and his co-star Connor Storrie have shot to stardom over the last month following the release of Heated Rivalry, a queer romance series from Canadian streamer Crave, which airs on HBO Max in the U.S. The show, created for television by Letterkenny alum Jacob Tierney, centres around a fictional hockey universe.
“At the end of the day, [this experience] still feels reminiscent of an overnight success,” Williams told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview last month. “There’s no way to prepare for what this side of things looks like.”
Heated Rivalry focuses on two rival professional hockey players — Canada-born Shane Hollander (Williams) of the fictitious Montreal Metros and Russia-born Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) of the fictitious Boston Raiders — as they navigate a years-long secret fling.
Wednesday’s Tonight Show appearance marks the first late-night interview for any cast from the Canadian hockey romance series. The romance series was already gaining traction online ahead of its premiere, but it’s become increasingly popular since its debut, even showing a meaningful bump in streams for the music featured on the show.
Williams and Storrie recently reunited for an audio romance series, Ember & Ice, for the audio erotica platform Quinn. Crave has ordered a second season of Heated Rivalry, but it’s unclear when that will air, as Tierney has said he still has to write the season.
The first season concluded with its sixth episode on December 26 on both Carve and HBO and the series is set to expand its international presence with a January 10 debut on Sky in the UK and Ireland. . . .