Heated Rivalry season two has confirmed two more castings, with The Half of It’s Daniel Diemer and former Britain’s Got Talent star Shaheen Jafargholi joining the hockey drama as production officially gets under way.
Diemer will play Ryan Price, a former Toronto Guardians enforcer and defenceman, while Jafargholi takes on Fabian Salah, an indie musician based in Toronto.
Jafargholi is also known for playing Shakil Kazemi in EastEnders and nurse Marty Kirkby in Casualty.
Both characters are drawn from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novel The Long Game, according to student outlet The Post Athens, making Ryan and Fabian the show’s third central pairing after Shane and Ilya, and Harris and Troy.
The castings were confirmed by Canadian streamer Crave on Instagram on August 17 — the same day filming officially began on the new season.
Series creator Jacob Tierney has also flagged a tonal shift for season two.
“It really is different, and the challenge, from an adaptation standpoint, is you’re in much more serious territory ... this kind of ‘hotel room, adolescent sex’ stuff is largely gone,” Tierney said, according to The Post Athens.
Actor Francois Arnaud, who played Scott Hunter in season one, has reportedly been spotted filming in Los Angeles, though his return has not been officially confirmed by the show.
Meanwhile, fans have been distracted by a very different season two mystery.
Connor Storrie, who plays Russian hockey star Ilya Rozanov, went viral after debuting a shaved head on set, prompting fans to nickname him “baldnor”.
Australian LGBTIQA+ outlet QNews reported one fan theory suggested Storrie’s character catches lice this season, forcing the buzz cut.
Diemer and Jafargholi join a growing list of season two additions.
READ MORE: All the new faces joining season two of Heated Rivalry
Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees and Priyanka were announced as new cast members earlier this month, alongside previously confirmed additions Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie.
Hudson Williams and Storrie return as the show’s original central couple, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, with the Harris and Troy storyline also continuing into season two.
Heated Rivalry season two is set to premiere on HBO Max in the Southern Hemisphere autumn 2027, with Australia among the regions getting access alongside the United States, Europe (excluding the UK, Ireland, Spain and Turkey), Latin America and parts of Asia including the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Nepal and Sri Lanka.