Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie received an honorary mission at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie star in the Canadian drama series about male hockey players. Sabrina Lantos / HBO Max
About the relationship between two male hockey players Heated Rivalry – the main stars of the series Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie carried the Olympic torch in Italy last Sunday.
The video published on the official Instagram account of the Olympic Games shows how the actors of the hit series walk with the torch along Veneto street with fans watching in the background.
– I love Italy! the Canadian Williams exclaims happily in the video.
The publication has collected almost a million likes, and the comment field has been filled with comments praising the duo.
– I am so proud and I really missed this moment of joy.
– I have never been so proud of two strangers.
– I am so happy and proud of Hudson, Connor and everyone else who has worked for this Canadian series. We’re at the Olympics!
Uproar in Russia
In Finland, presented by HBO Max Heated Rivalry is about two male hockey players, Shane and Ilja, who fall in love with each other. Shane is Canadian, Ilya is Russian.
The series has awakened The Washington Post has attracted a lot of attention and admiration in Russia as well, even though it is not even officially available in the country.
Content referring to homosexuality is strictly censored in Russia, and Heated Rivalry is no exception. Despite that, Russian fans have found the series to pair with. Several fans have said that they identify with Ilya’s character.
– If you live openly as a gay man in Russia, you constantly face pressure and fear, one Muscovite commented to the Washington Post.
– I know many people who are like Ilja. I may have been like him once. Like the character in the series, I was born in the late Soviet Union, when homosexuality was a crime, Russian writer Mikhail Zygar write in Vanity Fair.
According to the Washington Post, a conservative group of Orthodox Christians has appealed to the authorities and demanded sanctions against websites that show the series in Russia. The group has cited the numerous sex scenes in the series as the reason.
