'Heated Rivalry' Casts Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie as New Couple for Season 2

According to Deadline, season 2 of Heated Rivalry has added two new leads. Justice Smith (I Saw the TV Glow) and Charlie Gillespie (Julie and the Phantoms) have been cast as Harris Drover and Troy Barrett, the couple at the center of Role Model, the fifth book in Rachel Reid's Game Changers series. The production also confirmed that the new episodes will premiere in spring 2027 in North America.

In the story, Troy is a hockey player trying to move past a bullying-scarred past, while Harris works as a social media manager. Their story will unfold alongside the return of Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), the leads from the first season.

According to executive producers Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady, Smith and Gillespie showed from the very start of the casting process the chemistry and sensitivity needed to bring the characters to life. Filming for the new season has already begun in Canada, with creator Tierney recently making an appeal for fans not to interfere with the production process.

The second season will be based on the book The Long Game —the only other entry in the Game Changers series featuring the same protagonists as Heated Rivalry —and will also adapt Role Model.