Following its incredibly successful (to put it rather mildly) launch, Heated Rivalry has become one of the biggest and most popular television series around the world. All eyes are currently on the highly anticipated second season, which begins filming this summer for a release next spring. Until we're back in the world of Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, fans are clinging to every update.
Naturally, we already know for sure that Canadian Screen Award winner Hudson Williams and Emmy Award nominee Connor Storrie will be reprising their roles as Shane and Ilya, but which other stars from the first season will be back? There are question marks surrounding most of the characters that we met, considering the expected influx of new characters joining season 2, like Troy and Harris.
François Arnaud and Robbie G.K. are sure to return as Scott and Kip, but apart from a few more series staples like Christina Chang and Dylan Walsh as Shane's parents Yuna and David and Callan Potter as Shane's teammate Hayden (who plays a pivotal role in The Long Game), some of the other recurring and supporting cast members could see their roles reduced or eliminated.
Heated Rivalry season 2 will likely still include plenty of Shane and Ilya's current teammates and friends, like Rose (Sophie Nélisse) and Svetlana (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova), though there are characters we know we definitely won't be seeing and additional characters who just might not make the cut. Here are five we could have already said goodbye to for now.
Alexei Rozanov
Slavic Rogozine appeared in Heated Rivalry season 1 as Ilya's awful and toxic older brother Alexei, and as wonderfully Rogozine played Ilya's villainous sibling, he doesn't have a real reason to return in season 2. After their father dies (more on that in a second), Ilya splits all ties with his brother.
Alexei had relied too heavily on Ilya for money and treated him like an ATM rather than a brother, causing Ilya to finally put an end to the vicious circle. They no longer speak once Ilya puts up that much-needed boundary, allowing him to move forward and leave his past behind.
Grigori Rozanov
As mentioned above, Ilya's father Grigori dies in season 1 episode 5, just as Ilya and Shane are making positive progress in their relationship. In fact, Grigori's death actually helps the couple get closer as Ilya allows himself to be much more vulnerable with Shane.
But we almost definitely won't be seeing Grigori back on our screens in Heated Rivalry season 2 because he's no longer alive. Unless he's appears for whatever reason in some kind of flashback or dream sequence, the plot no longer requires anything from Grigori Rozanov.
Sasha
Another Russian character that's unlikely to appear in season 2, Ilya's past fling Sasha wasn't even physically present in the Heated Rivalry books. He was merely mentioned, so seeing him in season 1 at all was already a special treat and added bonus. But he has no storylines moving forward.
Kaden Connors, who portrays Sasha in the series, has been present for a lot of the cast gatherings and participated in some promotion, but as much as we'd like to see him back, Sasha doesn't exactly fit into the incoming events. Mostly because he's not even in the books.
Miles
Rose Landry's friend and co-star Miles (Devante Senior) has a few memorable appearances in the first season. He's flirtatious with both Shane and Ilya while out at the nightclub, and even dances on either side of Rose and Shane. Sadly for Miles, Shane and Ilya only have eyes for each other.
Sometimes supporting characters serve a temporary purpose, and Miles fulfilled his as outlined in the books (and maybe even then some). There's a chance that we could see Miles in a brief appearance during Shane and Ilya's wedding—if the big wedding happens in season 2.
Maria
The first season of Heated Rivalry featured a standalone episode that adapted Game Changer, the first book in Rachel Reid's series that centers on Scott and Kip. In the book and the episode, Kip has many close friends, but the least likely to have a significant appearance in season 2 is Maria.
Kip works with Maria at Straw+Berry, but they aren't as close as Kip is with his best friend Elena. Now, there's a chance we could see Maria more often if season 2 dives into Common Goal, the book centered on Eric and Kyle. Maria lives with Kyle, but apart from The Long Game, season 2 is only currently confirmed to adapt Role Model, even if all of the main book couples are fair game.
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