'Heated Rivalry's Francois Arnaud Reveals Pressure To Cut Sex Scenes

Crave

Heated Rivalry was nearly totally watered down, but fans can thank creator Jacob Tierney for saving the show’s spiciness. Star François Arnaud, who plays hockey pro Scott Hunter in the series, told the story of how the first streaming service to pick up the show wanted to tone down the sex scenes, but Tierney refused to comply.

"I don’t think this show could have been made in the U.S," Arnaud said on CBS Mornings. "It was set up at a big streamer before, and they had so many notes and so many thoughts on what that show could be that Jacob decided to leave them and get it made in Canada. Granted it was a much smaller budget, but he was like, ‘I can do the show that I want to make.’"

Arnaud specified that one of the main notes given to the series was that it should have "no kissing until Episode 5," seemingly suggesting that the series shouldn’t show physical intimacy outside of Scott and Kip’s pivotal kiss at the end of the p...