Entertainment Weekly: “Heated Rivalry” season 2 reveals hotly anticipated Troy and Harris casting (2026)

Source: Entertainment Weekly
Author: Nick Romano
Published: August 7, 2026
Document Type: News Feature Article
Source Link: View original article (Entertainment Weekly)

Casting for Heated Rivalry season 2 is, well, heating up. The Canadian romance series has found two new leading men to join stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams.

Charlie Gillespie, the 27-year-old Canadian actor and singer from Netflix’s Julie and the Phantoms, will play Troy Barrett, a troubled hockey player traded from the Toronto Guardians to the Ottawa Centaurs.

Justice Smith, from blockbusters like Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and more indie releases like I Saw the TV Glow, will play Harris Drover, the social media manager of the Centaurs.

The two characters are prominent figures in the next phase of the love story between Russian stud Ilya Rozanov (Storrie) and Canadian wunderkind Shane Hollander (Williams), which is based on the romance world from author Rachel Reid’s Game Changers book series. Gillespie and Smith will feature in leading roles opposite Storrie and Williams.

“Rachel Reid has given us two beautifully layered characters in Harris and Troy who you can’t help but root for,” showrunner Jacob Tierney and executive producer Brendan Brady said in a joint statement. “From the start of the casting process, we knew we were looking for actors who could create something truly special together and bring that same depth and heart to the screen. Justice and Charlie do exactly that.”

Tierney, speaking at BookCon 2026 about adapting the events of The Long Game and introducing Troy to the show, noted the shift in tone for the new season. “The challenge, from an adaptation standpoint, is you’re in much more serious territory,” he said. “Teasing the arrival of Troy, Tierney called the character ‘a really damaged guy. And Troy is quite damaged on the show. I would say we’re digging into that even harder.'”

Heated Rivalry season 2 will premiere sometime in spring 2027 on Crave in Canada, as well as HBO Max in the U.S. and other international territories.

Archival Note: This casting announcement from August 2026 marks a significant career milestone for Degrassi alumnus Charlie Gillespie. Gillespie is well-remembered by fans for his recurring role as Oliver in Degrassi: Next Class (Seasons 3-4). His casting as a lead in the prestige HBO/Crave adaptation of Heated Rivalry highlights the continued success of the franchise’s talent in the streaming era.