Heated Rivalry’s François Arnaud Reveals Plot Hole in Show: ‘There Was a F— Up’

François Arnaud revealed how the production team on Heated Rivalry’s had to make a last-minute change made to final cut of the season 1 finale in the editing room.

The actor, 40, opened up about playing Scott Hunter in the hit LGBTQ+ hockey drama in a preview from his interview on SiriusXM’s Smith Sisters Live. The show is adapted from Rachel Reid’s novel of the same name, and Arnaud noted that while there weren’t many differences from page to screen, there was one involving his character’s relationship with Kip (Robbie G.K.) that resulted in a continuity error caught after filming was completed.

“Do you think we’ll get any intel on what happened between Scott and Kip between those years of, ‘I can’t do this’ and the kiss on the ice?” co-host Mariah Smith asked, referring to the gap being just months in the book but several years in the series.

“So that’s an interesting thing, and I think I’ve already spoiled that before, I’ll just say it again, even though [creator] Jacob [Tierney] will probably, you know, give me a slap on the wrist,” Arnaud joked. “It’s because in the book, and also in the way that we shot it, there was a f— up in the timeline.”

Heated Rivalry follows the steamy love connection between hockey stars Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). However, Scott and Kip’s romance — which was told first in Reid’s Game Changers series and paves the way for the romance between Shane and Ilya — is portrayed in only a few time-jump scenes throughout the show.

“A lot of it was really well conceived, but the juxtaposition of the two story lines, they didn’t really know how they were going to cut from one to the other,” Arnaud continued. “And so, we shot it thinking it was six months between [Kip’s] birthday and the cup, and now it’s three years.”

“Episode six, the speech where I win the MLH MVP award, there was a line, and they locked the cut, so it was definitely on my face where I say, “Fear is a powerful thing, but this year I found the one thing that is more powerful,’ ” he recalled of the transgression in the script.

“So it was ‘this year’ I found the thing that is more powerful, but it couldn’t be this year. So, we had to change it. Like I think the ADR (automatic dialogue replacement) makes it like, ‘But now I found that.’ But it cuts. It cuts. I watched it. I watched it and it works,” he continued.

Heated Rivalry made waves when it debuted on HBO Max in November 2025. It quickly became the platform’s top-rated non-animated acquired series and a top-five scripted debut of 2025, per Variety. 

In December, it was renewed for season 2, which is expected to draw from Reid’s sixth Game Changers novel, The Long Game. Set nearly 10 years later, The Long Game finds Shane and Ilya still guarding their relationship as they weigh the risks of going public — and what that choice would mean for their futures on and off the ice.

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François’ full interview with SiriusXM’s Smith Sisters Live airs Tuesday, Jan. 20th on. Smith Sisters Live airs Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. ET/PT on Radio Andy (Ch. 102), and anytime on the SiriusXM app.

All six episodes of Heated Rivalry season 1 are available to stream on HBO Max.