Kerry Washington is going all in as a fan of “Heated Rivalry.”
“I bought one of the candles on Instagram. It’s a ‘Come to the Cottage’ candle,” she told me Tuesday at the premiere of Apple TV’s new series “Imperfect Women” at the Academy Museum. “I’m hooked.”
The nine-time Emmy nominee (she won in 2020 as a producer of All in the Family and Good Times’ Live in Front of a Studio Audience) went so far as to call the queer hockey drama series “one of the best television shows in decades.”
Believe it or not, I didn’t bring this show to Washington. Former NFL star and current actor and producer Nnamdi Asomugha said on the carpet that she is a big fan. “What’s not to like about this show?” Washington said. “This is a show about belonging. It’s a show about acceptance. It’s a show about finding love, accepting love, and having the courage to love. It’s also very spicy.”
Nnamdi Asomugha (left) with Kerry Washington, Jingsy Coogler and Ryan Coogler at the 2026 Essence Black Women in Hollywood Awards.
Essence Getty Images
She recalled seeing the romance between Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and Kip Grady (Robbie GK) unfold in episode three, and said, “There’s a lot of shows that try to do that kind of flashback-in-a-bottle episode, but I was like, ‘Everyone should go home and watch this. This is great television.'” Washington said. “By the end, I was literally screaming at the TV.”
I proposed to Asomugha a soccer version of “Heated Rivals”. “Oh my god,” he said. “That’s…amazing. I had no idea. That’s interesting. That’s amazing.”
Asomugha didn’t know that “heated rivalries” were a catalyst for some queer athletes to come out publicly. “That’s what art is about,” he said. “That’s great because it’s meant to empower you.”
Season 2 of “Heated Rivals” was announced shortly after the series premiered on HBO Max and Canadian streamer Crave in November, with Hudson Williams and Conor Storey returning to star as Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov. Filming is expected to begin this summer, according to series creator Jacob Tierney.
“Imperfect Women” stars Washington, Elisabeth Moss and Kate Mara as three best friends whose lives are forever changed by a terrible tragedy. “These girls are messed up,” Washington said. “They have made mistakes and are trying to figure out how to be honest.”
The first two episodes of the series will premiere on Apple TV on March 18th.
“One of the things I’m most proud of about this show is that it covers a lot of ground, not just thematically but tonally,” Washington said. “There are light moments, there are moments of humor, there are a lot of thrillers and dangerous murder mysteries. There’s also a lot of romance and family love.”
