François Arnaud, the star of Heated Rivalry, revealed that an Oscar-winning actress messaged him to compliment his work on the show. This comes amid the massive attention the show has continued to stack up since its release in late November 2025.
François Arnaud reveals Helen Hunt loved him in Heated Rivalry
Heated Rivalry’s unexpected success has brought in a lot of fame to its cast, including praise from veteran artists in the industry. One such acknowledgment came to François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter. He recently appeared on the Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen show, where he revealed that Helen Hunt “slid into” his DMs after watching the show.
“Helen Hunt slid into my DM yesterday,” he revealed. In response, Cohen asked, “Yesterday? And said what?” Arnaud replied, “She said, ‘I love you in this and everything else.’ Which means she’s, like, going through my filmography.”
The radio host questioned, “Wow, that’s great. Did you respond back?” to which the 40-year-old actor quipped, “Nope.” He then immediately clarified, “Yes, of course.”
This is not the first time the As Good As It Gets actress has commended the show. A few days earlier, the actress posted an image from the show on her Instagram, gushing over how good it is. She captioned it: “This f#%king show is incredible. They are so good. What is happening!!??!!!”
Heated Rivalry premiered on November 28, 2025. The show started with bleak viewership numbers on HBO Max, with just 30 million streaming minutes. It had failed to even appear on the Top 50 list of the most-watched original shows. However, by the end of the season, the show had garnered an impressive 324 million streaming minutes (via The New York Times). In Canada, the show became the most-watched original series on Bell Media’s Crave streaming site, per Variety.
Heated Rivalry follows two rival ice hockey players, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, who are in a secret and intense romantic relationship. Created by Jacob Tierney, the show features Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, François Arnaud, and Franco Lo Presti in prominent roles.
Originally reported by Harsha Panduranga on ComingSoon.
