Heated Rivalry‘s Hudson Williams Made His Red Carpet Debut with His Girlfriend After Getting Candid About How Fans ‘Perceived’ Her
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Heated Rivalry is the internet’s latest obsession with its steamy scenes and yearning plotline. But with every popular queer TV show, many people want to know about the actors’ personal lives, including who leads Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams are dating in real life.
Director Jacob Tierney addressed how Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams’ chemistry during the audition process and why the actors’ personal lives shouldn’t get in the way of the story’s narrative.
“I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff,” he told the Xtra. “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. 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.”
With the show holding the record as one of the most-watched HBO Max series ever, many fans are prying into Hudson Williams’ dating life, but what has he said about it?
Who’s Hudson Williams’ girlfriend?
Williams made his red carpet with his girlfriend, Katelyn Rose Larson, at the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscars Party, whom he’s dated since at least 2020. Larson is a Canadian tattoo artist who works in British Columbia and specializes in black and gray tattoos, according to her Instagram. (Williams was born in Kamloops, British Columbia, in 2001.)
Though Williams hasn’t confirmed whether Larson has done any of his tattoos, he does share a tattoo that reads “sex sells” with his Heated Rivalry co-star, Connor Storrie. Williams first went Instagram official with Larson in February 2026 when he shared several photos of them together to wish her a happy Valentine’s Day. He also described Larson as someone who has been with him since his “2000 gold Mazda Protégé smoked and squealed” and “had no job.”
In an interview with ETalk Canada at the 2025 Oscars, Williams revealed that he “didn’t even check the DMs” after he went official with his girlfriend on Instagram, but added that the comments he has read had been “really warm” toward Larson. “Even though she’s not trying to be out there or be perceived,” Williams said. “She’s always like, ‘I don’t want to be perceived!’”
In December 2025, the actor revealed how he felt about separating his personal life from his professional life and roles as a performer. “I think there’s never a question for me, when I would dream of becoming in the public eye, that I would want just a level of privacy,” he told Deadline.
Reporter Glenn Garner asked the actor about how he felt about the speculation around his and his co-workers’ sexualities. “Of course, it’s just the nature of celebrity,” Williams said. Garner also touched upon the accusations of “gay baiting,” to which Williams responded, “I want queer people telling queer stories, but also, there’s the element of Connor and I—we’re best friends, and we love expressing that physically. You see people who infer or assume, and you kind of have to let that go. But then again, I never wanna stop expressing the love I have for Connor physically, and I’m never really going to, and I think multiple things can be true at once.
He continued, “There’s an element of, also you can’t ask that in an audition room. But I think what Jacob said really sums it up the best, which is, you have to gauge how enthusiastic they are about the story. And they could have paid me $10 and just fed me, and I’m doing the story. I really thought I was gonna get nothing for this, and I just loved the story so much, and I want to be a part of that. And Connor as well, I’m sure feels the same. So, I think that’s the only thing you can gauge.”
As for how he feels about filming, he said, “I’d rather do the sex scenes because the hockey scenes—my feet hurt and then I cramp and I’m not that good, so I have to be very diligent with making sure I don’t look like a phony. But with the sex scenes, we rehearse them so heavily and we knew what we were gonna do going in, that they’re also a lot of fun.”
