Hudson Williams Got Real About Parasocial Relationships In A New Interview

After its debut became a bona fide romance phenomenon, Heated Rivalry Season 2 is one of 2027’s most fervently anticipated titles. Of course, its breakout stars are still processing the exposure — and the comments that come with it.

Hudson Williams broaches the topic in the upcoming second season of CBC’s The Assembly, a Canadian program in which a cohort of autistic and neurodivergent individuals interview a celebrity guest. Ahead of the show’s return on Nov. 1, a preview shows one member asking Williams, “What is your perspective on your fans becoming emotionally invested in your characters — to the point of developing parasocial relationships with you?”

“Yeah, that’s super interesting to me. I didn’t quite realize the level it could go to, until the show,” Williams responded in the clip. “They are living so vicariously through this fictional thing, and it’s realer to them than anything else they have in their life. Which is something I can’t relate with — I’ve never clung onto something that hard.”

The actor (who also stars in the new Crave horror series, Yaga) went on to address fans who ship co-stars — that is, believe they should be partners in real life — citing famous on-screen romances like Twilight, The Notebook, and Titanic.

“They were like, Why are they not together? ... It’s like, they’re actors,” Williams said. He’s previously expressed similar sentiments about people who read romance into his friendship with co-star Connor Storrie, once urging fans on Threads to stop “RPFing” (a fandom term that means “real people fiction”).

Still, Williams acknowledged on The Assembly, “I understand where they’re coming from. Like, the show means a lot, whatever. These characters mean a lot to them. But, you kind of have to separate art from artists.”

He pointed to a comment from Heated Rivalry showrunner Jacob Tierney, quoting: “Shane and Ilya are for everyone. Hudson and Connor are for themselves.” Reflecting on his co-star Storrie, he continued, “How much he wants to show himself and share himself to the world is up to him — and then it’s not up to people to ask for more, or feel like it’s not enough, too little, too much, whatever it is.”

Beyond what an individual chooses to express, he said, “You kinda just gotta be like: Not my business.”

Williams, for his part, has shared a slice of his own love life, making his red-carpet debut with girlfriend Katelyn Larson, a tattoo artist, earlier this year. As he put it in a getting-ready video for Vanity Fair, “I got good people around. I got everyone with me, and they’re my little family. And they’re keeping me safe, like I’m an incubated little chicklet or something.”