Mikhail Zygar, journalist, on ‘Heated Rivalry’ popularity in Russia: “It shows that it is OK. That people can fall in love and it’s so beautiful”

The smash hit ‘Heated Rivalry’ has launched the actors who play the main protagonists in their youth, Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, from obscurity to global icons. One of the features of the show that has garnered perhaps the most attention in the press and on social media are the erotic sex scenes considered about as close as you can get to porn without being pornographic.

The popularity of this love drama between two gay hockey players on opposing teams beyond the LGBTQ+ community caught even those who created it off guard. Perhaps even more surprisingly, it has become the highest rated show in Russia according to Kinopoisk, the Russian equivalent of Rotten Tomatoes, beating out ‘Breaking Bad’ and ‘Game of Thrones’.

Russians’ flout Putin’s anti-gay laws to watch ‘Heated Rivalry’

Under Putin’s regime, homosexuality has been outlawed and it’s illegal to share content like that depicted in ‘Heated Rivalry’, doing so could incur criminal charges and jail time. However, author and journalist Mikhail Zygar told Associated Press that “it shows us that [Russians are] trying to remain normal, they’re trying to remain resistant to the attempt of Putin’s regime to brainwash them.”

“They are not brainwashed; they are not ready to agree with the propaganda and with official anti-LGBT mantras,” he added. “They live their life, and they watch what they want to watch.”

Zygar was born in Moscow, Russia, in 1981, when it was still a part of the Soviet Union. He can relate to Storrie’s character, Ilya Rozanov, having grown up as a closeted gay man himself and finding it impossible to come out. Just when things looked like they might be improving for gay men, the first anti-gays laws were put on the books he explained in an article for Vanity Fair.

The journalist shared that things were difficult for those in the LGBTQ+ community prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but the crackdown on its members has become even more severe since. Zygar himself started an online petition condemning the war at its outset but found that he had to flee the country three days later and now resides in Berlin.

The journalist told the AP though that he thinks ‘Heated Rivalry’ is providing inspiration to all Russians to try to “normalize the discourse” around homosexuality. “It shows that it is OK. That people can fall in love and it’s so beautiful,” he said.

“It’s really hard to believe in some kind of happy ending, as we see in the show, in Russia’s reality today,” Zygar added. However, “the popularity of this TV show definitely may change some perception from the broader audience.”

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