Cold Bostonians bring the heat at a Heated Rivalry look-alike contest

Local News

“Anyone can do smut, but not anyone can do smut that can make it to the Golden Globes, Milan Fashion Week, and the Boston Public Garden.”

While temperatures were dropping, more than 200 people brought the heat Monday afternoon at a Heated Rivalry look-a-like contest in the Boston Public Garden. 

Heated Rivalry, a Canadian romance television show is about two rival hockey players — Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov — whose rink rage for each other melts off in their heated secret romance. 

The show’s popularity exploded in December and, according to the New York Times, has more than 300 million minutes watched. A second season is in the works from HBO Max, Deadline reported. Stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie have also been thrown into the limelight, as the pair presented an award at the Golden Globes together.

Part of the hit series takes place in Boston, as Rosonov plays for the fictional “Boston Bears,” which sparked Daniva Freeman’s quest to find the real-life Ilya and Shane of Boston.

Freeman, a senior at Suffolk University, says she and her co-host, Alexa Hilts, came up with the idea for the contest after a 9 a.m. class.

“I went to a cafe and started working on the poster. We really finalized the poster two hours later. So we were on it, and then we went out and hung up our posters,” Freeman said. 

Freeman also posted details about the competition in a TikTok, which has been viewed more than 80,000 times.

Celebrity look-alike competitions gained popularity after a Timothée Chalamet look-alike contest, which Chalamet himself attended, blew up on social media in 2024. 

“I chose Heated Rivalry because it’s really popular right now, and I was surprised that there hadn’t already been a competition already,” Freeman said. 

Freeman said she hoped that 50 people would attend, but the final number quickly quadrupled. 

Contestants were asked to step forward, with the crowd voting by cheering for their favorite doppelganger. 

Will Carroll, 22, who won second place for his Rozanov impression, said that he and his friends had nothing to do and decided to spend their Monday participating. 

“I think [the contest] says that Boston, we love competitions, we love gay people, we love hockey, we love look-alikes,” Carroll said.

Though only eight people entered the contest, hundreds more came to watch.

“First I thought it would be funny. Two, to find a husband. And three, I actually do think the show is actually changing how a lot of media is going to get made, both for Canadian television and for queer media,” said Coleman Toomey, a senior at Emerson who attended.

Noah Hallward-Rough, a student at Brown University who won first place for his resemblance to Rozanov, said he was just walking by when he found himself in front of a predominantly female crowd.

“I walked by and I got roped in, I have never seen [Heated Rivalry],” he said.

People have told him he resembles the character, he said, although he’s not familiar with the actor or the show.

The first place winners won free ice skating tickets, and the second winners received cans of Coke and ginger ale. 

“Anyone can do smut, but not anyone can do smut that can make it to the Golden Globes, Milan Fashion Week, and the Boston Public Garden,” Carroll said.