Heated Rivalry‘s Francois Arnaud Addresses ‘Absurd’ Questions About Cast’s Real-Life Sexualities: ‘It’s Crazy’
Jason Pham
Heated Rivalry has taken the internet by storm, and so has Francois Arnaud, who made his main storyline debut in Season 1, Episode 3, of the series.
Arnaud plays Scott Hunter, a New York-born American ice hockey player and the captain of the New York Admirals, who is queer and in a relationship with smoothie shop barista Kip Grady (played by Robbie G.K.).
The episode sees Scott struggle with his closeted sexuality identity while asking Kip to be patient because he believes he could come out years down the line. In the end, however, Scott and Kip break up after Scott refuses to attend Kip’s birthday party at a gay bar. The relationship mirrors the romance between lead characters Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, two closeted ice hockey players from rival teams.
In real life, Arnaud is also queer and publicly identifies as bisexual. He came out as bisexual in an Instagram Story for Bi Visibility Day in September 2020, in an effort to address “assumptions of straightness” and bisexual erasure.
“Last week, I was chatting with work friends, and as I brought up a trip I’d taken with an ex-girlfriend, I asked myself —for the ten-thousandth time— how to tell such a story without making it seem like that was the whole story of me,” Arnad wrote at the time.
He continued, “I’m sure many bisexual guys feel the same and end up doing as I did: letting other people’s assumptions of straightness stand uncorrected. Perhaps out of fear of oversharing. Under the guise of privacy, maybe. Probably because ‘masculinity’ is a most fragile currency, ready to nose-dive at the first sign of vulnerability or difference. And because it’s really fucking scary to give up your privilege. Without a doubt because stigmas of indecisiveness, infidelity, deception and trendiness are still clinging to bisexuality.”
He ended his post by explaining why he wanted to publicly come out as bisexual. “But here’s the thing. Silence has the perverse effect of perpetuating those stereotypes, making bi guys invisible, and leading people to doubt that we even exist. No wonder it’s still a chore to acknowledge bisexuality without getting into lengthy explanations,” he wrote. “So yes, labels are frustrating and words, imperfect. But I’ve always considered myself bisexual. Not confused or trying to look edgy. Not disloyal. Not ashamed. Not invisible. Happy #bivisibilityday this Wednesday.”
In an interview with Variety after his debut on Heated Rivalry in December 2025, Arnaud also explained his decision to come out as bisexual on Instagram. “The only reason I said something…is because I did not feel ashamed of it,” he said. “I felt hiding it, concealing it actively, which I would have had to do at that point, was an act that indicated shame. I was like, ‘That’s not how I feel.’ I said it because I didn’t want to hide. But I’m not particularly interested in talking about my relationships, or all that. I don’t want to invite people into my home.”
Arnaud also addressed a comment made by Heated Rivalry creator Jacob Tierney in an interview with Xtra, where Tierney was asked whether the real-life sexualities of Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, who play Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov on Heated Rivalry, respectively, were relevant to the series.
“I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff,” Tierney said at the time. “I’ll tell you something about the casting of both of these roles. You can’t ask questions like that when you’re casting, right? It’s actually against the law. So what you have to gauge is somebody’s enthusiasm and willingness to do the work.”
He continued, “And that’s what’s so impressive about both of these guys is they came into this being like, ‘Yeah, we’re here to do this, and we are here to make this story feel authentic and to be as real as possible.’ And they fucking hit it out of the park.”
In his interview with Variety, Arnaud also agreed that the cast’s real-life sexualities don’t have relevance to the characters they’re playing. “It’s absurd to think that you should be allowed to ask about someone’s sexuality when they’re trying to get hired for a job,” he said. “It’s crazy, like we’re only going to hire you if you’re gay? And then it’s, like, how gay are you? It’s a spectrum.”
Of his off-screen relationship with G.K., Arnaud told Variety that the two didn’t meet until their first day working together. “The first time I met him was with the intimacy coordinator,” he said. “I don’t think we shared a meal before.”
He continued, “We were making dick jokes before the sex scenes, but as soon as the cameras were rolling, we were clocked in and tuned into the reality of these characters, and we didn’t feel like laughing.”
Arnaud also discussed a change the Heated Rivalry TV show made from the books. “Scott, the superstar hockey player, was obviously the top and the smoothie boy was the bottom, but then we really wanted to reverse that dynamic in a surprising way,” Arnaud said. “I think that shows a sign of a vulnerability for [Scott], which I think is much more relatable then just confining him to a box.”
As for whether there could be a spinoff with Scott, Arnaud told the magazine, “I’ve heard talks about that.”
