“Heated Rivalry” star Francois Arnaud revealed his DMs have been flooded with celebrity messages since the hit series premiered in November.
Which A-List Actress Slid Into Francois Arnaud’s DMs?
Arnaud, who played Scott Hunter on the hockey romance series, sat down with Andy Cohen for the Monday, January 19, episode of “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,” where he dished about his recent celebrity encounters.
During a game of Never Have I Ever, Arnaud revealed that Helen Hunt slid into his DMs over the weekend.
“Never have I ever had a famous celebrity or public figure slide into my DMs, but I will never name who?” Cohen said.
“Oh, I’ll name her. Helen Hunt slid into my DMs yesterday,” Arnaud said.
After the crowd went wild, he revealed her message.
“‘I love you in this and everything else,'” he recalled. “Which means that she’s like going through my filmography.”
While he didn’t reveal what he responded, he clarified that he did not “leave her on read.”
Hunt has been open about her love for the series, which is based on the Game Changers book series by Rachel Reid.
“This [expletive] show is incredible. They are so good. What is happening!!??!!!” she shared via Instagram on January 9, alongside a photo of Ilya Rozanov and Shane Hollander (played by Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams, respectively).
Arnaud commented on Hunt’s post the following day, leaving three heart emoji.
‘Heated Rivalry’ Has Become a Phenomenon
Series creator Jacob Tierney fell in love with the book series and reached out to Reid via Instagram in 2023, according to The Washington Post.
“Reid says shortly after she and Tierney’s production company, Accent Aigu Entertainment, inked a deal, Warner Bros. came calling,” the outlet reported.
According to Reid, “everything [Tierney] said was amazing, and I knew right away that he was going to, you know, take it seriously, that he really got the books, got the characters.”
As it turns out, Helen Hunt is not the only celebrity who has fallen in love with the series.
Pedro Pascal showed his support by reacting to various fan videos of the show. Actress Busy Philipps took it a step further and shared a video of herself sobbing during episode 5’s pivotal scene.
Andy Cohen himself, along with his best friend Anderson Cooper, gushed about the series during their live broadcast on New Year’s Eve.
“I’m Ilya and you’re Shane,” he told Cooper.
“What? I’m not either of them. I’m Kip,” the CNN host quipped.
