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Carly Rae Jepsen suggests she named her son after ‘Heated Rivalry’ character
Music NewsSeptember 12, 2026 at 8:56 PMNational

Carly Rae Jepsen suggests she named her son after ‘Heated Rivalry’ character

By Damian JonesNME Music News

“It was an incredible show" The post Carly Rae Jepsen suggests she named her son after ‘Heated Rivalry’ character appeared first on NME.

Carly Rae Jepsen has hinted that she named her son after a character from Heated Rivalry.

The HBO drama follows Hudson Williams as the up-and-coming hockey star Shane Hollander and Arnaud as veteran Scott Hunter, with Connor Storrie playing Ilya Rozanov – who has a secret romance with Hollander.

Speaking in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jepsen said creator, writer and director of the show, Jacob Tierney had asked her to write a song for season one but there was no budget.

She went on to say it would a “dream” for her to pen a song for the second season before adding: “It was an incredible show. Ilya is the name of my son. Maybe, not maybe because of that show.”

Season one of Heated Rivalry, based on the Game Changers books by Rachel Reid, premiered in November last year with its first two episodes. The following four episodes then aired weekly, with the finale coming on December 26.

Whereas the first season was based on the second book of Reid’s series, the second is set to adapt the sixth book The Long Game, which serves as its sequel.

Tierney recently told Variety that season two won’t premiere exactly a year after the first, citing slower progress on the scripts. He also said that other writers could lend a hand in the process, and that he intends to write a scene depicting Williams coming out to his team, something that happened off-page in the novel.

Meanwhile, Jepsen recently spoke to the NME about her forthcoming double LP ‘Day And Night’.

Set for release on September 18, she worked closely with trusted collaborators including Noonie Bao, Patrik Berger, Tavish Crowe, Markus Krunegård and Pontus Winnberg. She also co-wrote songs with musician-producer Cole M.G.N., whom she married last October and welcomed her son in March.

“At the time, he was just my boyfriend, and a lot of this album is really about that relationship: [us] falling in love and deciding to make a family together,” Jepsen said.

“There’s nothing wilder than writing a love song about your husband, then showing it to him, and having him participate in it! It was honestly a really beautiful process.”

The post Carly Rae Jepsen suggests she named her son after ‘Heated Rivalry’ character appeared first on NME.

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