Daniel Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi join Heated Rivalry season 2 cast
Diemer will play Ryan Price and Jafargholi will play his love interest Fabian Salah
By Aaron Sugg
Actors Daniel Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi are the latest stars to join the cast of Heated Rivalry season 2.
The announcement comes shortly after Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees and Priyanka were revealed to be appearing in the gay hockey series.
Diemer, known for his roles in The Half of It and Percy Jackson and the Olympians, will play Ryan Price, the protagonist of Tough Guy, the third book in Rachel Reid‘s Game Changers book series.
Who do Daniel Diemer and Shaheen Jafargholi play in Heated Rivalry season 2?
Jafargholi, who has appeared in Lost Boys & Fairies and various other TV shows, has been cast as Fabian Salah, Ryan’s love interest.
Ryan is a retired NHL enforcer and defenceman. The book follows his life as he transfers to the Toronto Guardians and sees him rekindle a childhood romance with Fabian.
Tough Guy also portrays Ryan as one of the few people who knows about the secret relationship between Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) before the events of The Long Game, on which Heated Rivalry season 2 is predominantly based.
Jacob Tierney welcomes the new cast
Co-creators Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady praised Diemer and Jafargholi’s casting. In a statement reported by Deadline, they said:
“Fabian and Ryan each bring a distinctive energy to the world Rachel Reid has created,” said Heated Rivalry co-creators Jacob Tierney and Brendan Brady from Accent Aigu Entertainment. “They are bold, complicated, and deeply compelling characters, and finding actors who could really take on all of those different sides was so important to us.
“Daniel and Shaheen bring such confidence and emotional honesty to the roles. We can’t wait for audiences to see what they do with Fabian and Ryan and how they make these characters their own.”
Reid welcomed the casting under broadcaster Crave’s social media announcement, commenting: “My big sad son and my rockstar son.”
Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie join Heated Rivalry season 2
Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie are among the newcomers joining the cast of season 2, as production began in Toronto earlier this month.
The pair will play Harris Drover and Troy Barrett. Drover is an openly gay social media manager for the Ottawa Centaurs ice hockey team, while Troy is a closeted hockey player whose relationship with Harris develops from bullying into romance.
Heated Rivalry season 2 is scheduled for release in April 2027 via Sky in the UK.