Smoke show.
“Heated Rivalry” co-stars Conor Storey and Francois Arnault went out to dinner together, further fueling dating speculation.
According to photos obtained by TMZ, the two were spotted at a smokehouse in Burbank, Los Angeles. The images showed the two sharing a cozy booth at the restaurant. A small lamp in the center of the table illuminated the scene as they chatted happily.
Storey, 25, smiled at Arnaud, 40, as she looked at the menu. In another photo, Arnaud appeared to be smiling while Storey looked off into the distance.
Days before their appearance on Smokehouse, the co-stars were spotted making a fashionable exit from a party at Paris Fashion Week in January.
Representatives for Mr. Storey and Mr. Arnault did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
Story, who plays Ilya Rozanov opposite Hudson Williams’ Shane Hollander in the erotic hockey drama, first sparked rumors that she was dating Arnaud last month when she was seen leaving JFK Airport on a plane after a press week in the Big Apple.
However, some fans of the show felt that Story was a better match for her on-screen boyfriend Williams in real life, and Arnaud reportedly received death threats as a result.
Arnault has since unfollowed the cast and others involved in the hit series, including Williams, GK Robbie and Conor Storey.
He then re-followed the cast, sharing a composite photo of himself and Williams with their cameras turned off, and later denied that the mass unfollow had anything to do with the social media drama.
“What’s happening is I’m unfollowing everyone and Instagram doesn’t let me do it all at once,” he told the Toronto Star last month.
“You can only unfollow a certain number of people in a 24-hour period, but I didn’t know that at the time,” he added.
He also said the selfie with his middle finger up was “completely unrelated” to online harassment.
On a January episode of Watch What Happens Live, Andy Cohen asked Arnaud if he was “single these days,” to which Arnaud replied, “No, I’m not,” drawing a laugh from fellow guest Mary J. Blige.
Arnault’s silence on the matter has also done little to quell romance speculation, with one person in X magazine writing about their recent date: “Conor Storey and Francois are absolutely beautiful.”
A fan of the storyline gushed: “I live and smile at everything that makes Connor happy, whether it’s Francois’ partner, his friend, whatever it is.”
