Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie are acknowledging their special fans. The stars of "Heated Rivalry," whose Crave/HBO Max show about hockey rivals-to-lovers has shot them to viral fame in the last month, took the stage at the 2026 Golden Globes—hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 11—to present an award and give a shoutout to one of their key fanbases.
"It's a little nerve-wracking here, being at our very first Golden Globes," Connor said as he feigned fear alongside Hudson, who cheekily told his costar to calm his nerves by imagining everyone in their underwear. "Just take a deep breath and picture everyone in the audience... You know."
Connor then made a reference to their many NSFW scenes in "Heated Rivalry," adding, "I don't really know if that works, considering everyone's seen us... You know."
"You think everyone in the audience has seen 'Heated Rivalry?'" Hudson asked, eliciting a roar of applause from the crowd. Connor said, "That's a maybe. But their trainers have, and their moms have. Their daughters have."
"Hi, moms," Hudson noted with a smile, with Connor chiming in, "Hi, daughters."
But it's not just the moms and daughters of the world who have been tuning into the gay hockey romance. Indeed, Hudson recently reflected on the many closeted LGBTQ+ athletes who have been reaching out since the show premiered in November.
"The people who reach out, somewhat anonymously, who are like, 'I'm a professional player still, and I'm still in the closet,'" he said in a Jan. 7 clip from his appearance on Andy Cohen's SiriusXM show "Radio Andy." "They're [also] reaching out to Rachel Reid, our author, who will then kind of relay these lovely anonymous emails."
The 24-year-old added of the hockey, football, and basketball players he's heard from, "Sometimes they're just reaching out privately through Instagram, and those ones are the ones that really just kind of hit you and go, 'Oh, so this is a fun show, and it's celebratory, but also sometimes it's just hitting people right in the nerve.'"
