The Heated Rivalry Effect

How the Canadian show became a global pop-culture phenomenon and made household names of its two lead actors

-  MICHAEL KILLINGSWORTH

You'd expect the stars of TV's hottest show to pop up on talk shows and in magazine profiles and stir up a flurry of admiration on social media. But when Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie suddenly also found themselves centre stage as presenters at the Golden Globes last month - or, in Hudson's case, mingling with the prime minister - you knew something bigger was afoot. The actors - and their all-Canadian series have become an undeniable popculture phenomenon.

The Heated Rivalry stars have been as blindsided as anyone by the reception. "We were both in similar places in life before this," Connor, 26, told W, musing on the whirlwind he's experiencing. "We quit our jobs within a day of each other. We booked this and flew out the same day. Now, it's turning into two people who are being seen internationally for the first time." Noted Connor to The Hollywood Reporter: "It's been so much that I honestly don't have time to really process or think about it, which I think is kind of healthy."