A TV executive is explaining why Jacob Tierney‘s Heated Rivalry wound up on Canadian network Crave.

Julie Roy, executive director and CEO at Téléfilm Canada, spoke out on a new panel about the hit LGBTQ+ series, which stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie.

Keep reading to find out more…

During Series Mania Forum’s panel about Global Audiovisual Alliances, per Variety, Julie explained how the show was originally supposed to launch stateside.

“At first, it was supposed to be made with a U.S. platform. But he didn’t have the freedom he wanted,” she said, referring to creator Jacob Tierney.

“For example, [they wanted] to have the first explicit scene only in episode five to tone down the romance,” she went on to say.

“He decided to go back to Canada, and kudos to Crave who had the courage to welcome the full project. For me, that’s a great example of not being Hollywood and being authentic. Authenticity is something that really works.”

“This example is also interesting in terms of audience engagement. A high number of people just watched this series for the fifth time! It’s insane,” she added of the show’s rewatch success.

Heated Rivalry just got a ton more award nominations for the highly successful first season!