From hockey followers to romance novel readers, Heated Rivalry has quietly turn into one of the crucial talked-about tv reveals on the earth. And this week, it picked up an sudden new fan.
Prime Minister Mark Carney was among the many company at a gala in Ottawa celebrating Canada’s movie and tv business, the place he crossed paths with Hudson Williams, one of many stars of the hit Crave sequence.
Video from the crimson carpet, shared on Carney’s X account, reveals Williams wrapping the prime minister in a white Group Canada fleece worn by his character on the present.
“Oh child! I’ve made it, lastly,” Carney may very well be heard saying as he tried on the garment.
At one level, Carney jokingly encourages the younger actor to strike a pose and “do the leg factor,” a reference followers of the present instantly acknowledged.
The web had a area day with the second, which has since gone viral.
Some turned it into a brand new Canadian Heritage Second.
In the meantime, Carney has been receiving plenty of love within the feedback part of an Instagram web page devoted to the sequence.
“Chef’s kiss, no notes. So proud to be Canadian,” one remark reads.
“It makes me VERY pleased & proud that it was PM Carney’s thought to do the Leg up pose,” one other person added.
Based mostly on Rachel Reid’s romance novel Recreation Changers, Heated Rivalry launched on November 28 with two episodes, “Rookies” and “Olympians,” which each targeted on the skilled hockey debuts of Canadian Shane Hollander (Williams) and Russian Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie).
Viewership skyrocketed by over 400% after the present premiered, and it shortly turned Crave’s most-watched unique sequence.
Carney later delivered a speech at the media event, calling it “a real made-in-Canada phenomenon.”
Upon thanking Reid and director Jacob Tierney, he revealed that studios “south of the border” wished to tone down a number of the present’s extra specific content material. “What’s the level of that?”
The 60-year-old Liberal chief then leaned totally into the second, jokingly taking credit score for the present’s success.
“Look, I am a politician. I am not above taking credit score for the Canadian funding that helped you share this story with the world,” he stated, including that he “greenlit this factor.”
He additionally gave Williams one other shoutout earlier than wrapping up the tackle.
“Congratulations to my new finest buddy, Hudson. I do not know when you noticed the vitality on that carpet, however I felt it.”