Why Heated Rivalry fans are already obsessed with Eric Bennett before season 2
Heated Rivalry season 2 has been confirmed, but what about Eric Bennett?
Heated Rivalry season 2 is already in development, and if fans play their cards right, we could meet a new character: Eric Bennett.
The steamy ice hockey drama has become a bona fide international phenomenon, with a fervent fandom already desperate for the show to return.
Based on Rachel Reid’s Game Changer novels, the first season followed Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). As the title suggests, they’re rivals on the rink – but behind closed doors (and under the sheets), they’re inseparable.
With the series already renewed for season 2, Heated Rivalry viewers are curious about what (and who) will come next. Could we see Eric Bennett?
Who is Eric Bennett?
Eric Bennett hasn’t appeared in Heated Rivalry. However, he does appear in the books: specifically, Common Goal, the fourth novel in Reid’s series.
Don’t worry, we won’t spoil what happens. Everything we’re about to say comes from the outset of the book (and there’s a good chance the series won’t do a one-to-one adaptation, if it happens).
In the novel, Eric is a longtime goalie for the New York Admirals. He meets Kyle Swift, a graduate student new to the Big Apple, and they have an immediate and intense physical attraction.
As you’re probably expecting, it doesn’t take long before they have a friends-with-benefits arrangement.
The question is, is it just sex, or do they yearn for something more?
Eric Bennett doesn’t have a big connection to Shane and Ilya. But Eric and Kyle rank among the best couples in the entire Game Changers series.
Will Eric Bennett appear in Heated Rivalry season 2?
Heated Rivalry hasn’t confirmed any casting details for season 2, so we don’t know if Eric Bennett will appear or not.
Bar its renewal, there haven’t been many updates about the second season. In December last year, showrunner Jacob Tierney said he hadn’t started writing the next season.
However, he did tell Deadline that Heated Rivalry will always be “centred around Shane and Ilya”.
“But we have a whole universe here, and so there’s loads of other things that we’re thinking about and that we’re gonna explore and that we’re gonna start to take more seriously now that we know that there’s an audience for it,” Tierney added.
Could that mean we see other characters from Reid’s novels? It’s been widely speculated that season 2 will adapt The Long Game, a sequel that picks up with Shane and Ilya years later.
“We’re in the real leagues now, and it’s cool to watch these people that have been in this heightened reality for so long. The other shoe drops that deepens the love, but that also tests some of their personal limits,” Tierney teased.
Fan casts for Eric Bennett
While you may have spotted a player in a “Bennett” jersey in Heated Rivalry, that’s not Eric. One, he’s not a goalie, and two, it was probably just an Easter egg.
So, if he does make an appearance in season 2, who should play him? Given his age and similarity to Eric on the book’s cover, Lee Pace (Foundation, Pushing Daisies) has emerged as the top choice.
In the perfect world, Jacob Tierney would cast Lee Pace as Eric Bennett
It’s so perfect, but you know.. BUDGET 😟 pic.twitter.com/FkrpDih87K
— Mark (@LouieFanaticBoy) January 24, 2026
“I see the vision and I’m here for it,” one user wrote on Reddit. “It’s literally him on the cover,” another pointed out.
There are other options. Eric Bana (Munich), Joe Manganiello (Magic Mike), Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy), and Zachary Quinto (American Horror Story) have all been proposed by fans.
We do know one thing: Kyle has already appeared in Heated Rivalry. He was the bartender played by Matthew Finlan in episode 3, and he also showed up in episode 6.
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