One of queer television’s most recognizable young stars is joining one of its biggest new hits.
Edvin Ryding has officially joined the second season of Heated Rivalry.
The Swedish actor, best known internationally for playing Prince Wilhelm in Netflix’s Young Royals, will portray Luca Haas.
Luca is a hockey player from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novels and part of the wider group of characters surrounding the Ottawa Centaurs.
The casting was announced alongside several other additions to the rapidly expanding Season 2 ensemble.
Canadian actor Robert Naylor will play Wyatt Hayes.
Schitt’s Creek star Emily Hampshire joins as Vanessa.
Comedian and writer Sabrina Jalees will portray Farah Jalali.
Canadian drag star Priyanka will play Tarek.
For LGBTQ+ television fans, however, Ryding’s casting carries particularly strong resonance.
Ryding spent three seasons at the centre of Young Royals, playing Swedish Prince Wilhelm as he fell in love with Simon Eriksson.
The series became a global phenomenon partly because of the tenderness and emotional realism of that relationship.
Wilhelm’s story dealt with first love, secrecy, public scrutiny, family expectations and the pressure to choose between institutional duty and personal happiness.
Ryding’s performance helped make Wilhelm one of the defining queer television characters of his generation.
Now the actor is entering another fictional universe where professional expectations and queer identity regularly collide.
Heated Rivalry follows rival hockey stars Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie.
The first season followed the men as a secret physical relationship gradually became something much deeper.
Season 2 will continue their story through material primarily drawn from Reid’s novel The Long Game.
The upcoming episodes will also incorporate characters and storylines from Role Model, another novel in Reid’s interconnected Game Changers series.
Justice Smith and Charlie Gillespie were previously announced as Harris Drover and Troy Barrett, the central romantic pairing from that book.
The casting of Luca Haas and Wyatt Hayes confirms that the television adaptation is expanding well beyond Shane and Ilya’s immediate circle.
Luca is a young player with an important connection to the Ottawa Centaurs storyline.
In the novels, he becomes part of the team environment that also includes Troy, Harris and Ilya.
His presence adds another younger player to the series’ exploration of hockey culture, identity and mentorship.
Wyatt Hayes is also associated with the Centaurs and plays an established role within that wider hockey world.
Robert Naylor, who will portray Wyatt, is a Canadian actor whose credits include Mile End Kicks, 10½ and 19-2.
The rest of the newly announced cast also brings considerable LGBTQ+ credentials.
Emily Hampshire became beloved as Stevie Budd on Schitt’s Creek and has publicly identified as pansexual.
She has previously explained that the show’s famous wine metaphor about sexuality helped her understand the term.
Sabrina Jalees is an openly gay Canadian comedian, actor and television writer.
Priyanka became the first winner of Canada’s Drag Race and has since built an international career in music, television and drag performance.
The casting therefore gives Season 2 an ensemble that draws talent from several corners of queer entertainment culture.
It also creates an obvious crossover moment for fans of Young Royals.
The Swedish series concluded in 2024 after giving Wilhelm and Simon’s relationship a definitive ending.
Ryding has since moved into film and other projects, but for many LGBTQ+ viewers his face remains inseparable from one of Netflix’s most beloved queer romances.
Seeing him step into Heated Rivalry inevitably brings some of that history with him.
Production on Season 2 is already underway.
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie return as Shane and Ilya, while François Arnaud has also confirmed that Scott and Kip will continue to appear.
The growing cast suggests that the second season will broaden the world considerably rather than simply repeat the structure of the first.
Heated Rivalry Season 2 is currently expected to premiere in spring 2027 on Crave and HBO Max.
Until then, fans now have one particularly irresistible crossover to imagine.
Prince Wilhelm has left the palace.
Next stop: the hockey rink.
📷 @edvinrydings / Crave / @netflix
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