Heated Rivalry – the Canadian series about professional hockey with a secret gay romance at its center – has become a cultural phenomenon.
The hit HBO show follows the clandestine rivals-to-lovers arc between top tier hockey stars Shane Hollander (played by Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). Its heavy helping of salacious scenes and yearning has sparked a frenzy among fans who lap up every second of the book adaptation.
But for some athletes, it’s more fact than fiction.
While Hollander and Rozanov are merely fictional characters from the pages of Rachel Reid’s Game Changer series, Aiden Phipps and Cole Philpott are very much real.
At first glance, a Division III college baseball game has little in common with the steamy hit series, but romance can take root on the real-life diamond just as well as it can on the ice.
Phipps was the starting pitcher for the Beloit College Buccaneers when he first came into contact with his future boyfriend.
Heated Rivalry focuses on two professional hockey players and their clandestine romance (Pictured: a scene from the show)
Aiden Phipps (left) and Cole Philpott (right), two college baseball players, struck up their own romance in real life
Philpott, left fielder for Grinnell College, didn’t play that game – which ended in a 7-5 win for Beloit. But even from the dugout, Phipps’ six-inning outing caught his eye. And from there, a true-life heated rivalry began.
Impressed by the performance, Philpott reached out to Phipps over Instagram, sparking a social media friendship that evolved from friendly chats and banter into romantic feelings.
Eventually, Philpott decided to take a gamble.
‘I found someone that I thought I liked and just put questions out there and sent out my feelers,’ he previously told Outsports.
‘I didn’t want to be like a weirdo to one of our competitors. So I was trying to walk that fine line. So I was definitely worried about it, but Aiden made the conversation really easy. So it started [with] just friendly stuff and it just kind of went from there.’
However, while Phipps knew he was bisexual, he had never come out to anyone. During the joint Outsports interview, Phipps admitted that, as a baseball player, he ‘wasn’t really comfortable’ with the idea of coming out yet.
But as Philpott continued to ask questions, Phipps felt at ease to open up about that part of himself.
The couple, who met on the field, are pictured at a pride event for the Baltimore Orioles
The hit HBO show (pictured) has gripped viewers with its salacious scenes and ample yearning
Philpott and Phipps first came face-to-face when their teams, Beloit and Grinnell, faced off
‘At first it was very friendly, and then when he started asking questions, I was super comfortable right off the bat talking to Cole,’ Phipps said. ‘We just had that connection instantly. So I had no problems letting him know or telling him, and it kind of went from there.’
Their relationship continued to grow, but the baseball season was still in full swing. Before long, the two were facing off on opposite sides of the diamond.
Putting their social media secrecy to the side, the pair found themselves as rivals once again when Beloit and Grinnell went head-to-head in the conference playoffs.
It was a few days later at the NCAA regional tournament when Phipps decided he was ready to take the plunge. He and Philpott had become serious enough that he felt the need to come out to his family.
But at the last minute, he backed out, losing the courage to reveal the full truth. Instead, he told his mother that he and Philpott were going to meet up, but failed to disclose the romantic aspect of their relationship.
Yet, despite ‘freaking out,’ he leaned on Philpott for support, which ultimately gave him the strength to later text his mom and reveal that he was bisexual.
Phipps said she was loving and accepting of him and his sexuality. But for both he and Philpott, as athletes, there was another obstacle to overcome: their teammates.
‘You’re around the guys all the time, and you never want to feel weird around someone you’re with multiple hours a day,’ Philpott explained, adding that he experienced his own trepidation over the coming-out process.
Heated Rivalry focuses on fictional hockey rivals Shane Hollander (left) and Ilya Rozanov (right)
Phipps is pictured with his Beloit teammates, who he said supported him when he shared his sexuality
Phipps, the pitcher, is pictured on the mound celebrating the end of his senior season
‘Especially because as a team sport, so much of it is your interconnectedness. Your way of being good is, you have to play together as a team.
‘So if there’s any kind of divide, I didn’t want to be the reason that there was a divide. And I didn’t want to give ammo to other teams.’
Philpott had long known that he wasn’t heterosexual, but it wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic that he began to tell others.
He initially told his closest friends from high school and his parents, but when he reached Grinnell, an LGBTQ-friendly college in Iowa, he felt comfortable to be who he was. It wasn’t long before his entire team knew.
Describing his teammates as brothers, Philpott insisted that they all supported him.
Meanwhile, over at Beloit, Phipps faced the same challenge of revealing his full self to his own teammates.
Shortly after coming out to his family, he began to gradually open up to a selection of his closest teammates, who initially thought he was joking.
However, after realizing that he was serious, they gave him their full support and encouragement. By the time his junior year started, he had every teammate in his corner.
Although the couple’s relationship continued throughout their senior baseball season, their rivalry held strong.
Philpott and Phipps faced each other four times throughout their senior year, culminating in a thrilling 8-7 win for Phipps and Beloit at the 2025 Midwest Conference Tournament.
Both men, who are still together, graduated in 2025. While their on-field rivalry has now come to a close, they said they’ll always owe baseball for their romance.
