This is not a drill: A 'Heated Rivalry' lookalike contest is happening in NYC

On your way to the cottage, you might want to make a quick pit stop in Washington Square Park for sightseeing reasons, because January 25 sees a Heated Rivalry lookalike contest play out there.

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That's right, this is your chance to encounter a genuine hockey hunk or as close as the laws of genetics and gym training allow. Starting at 2pm, the gentlemen who think they look like brooding Russian Ilya Rozanov (also known as Connor Storrie) or shy Shane Hollander (aka Hudson Williams) have the chance to make the crowd swoon.

Hosted by fans of the HBO Max smash at the very site where New York’s lookalike tradition allegedly took root (remember the viral Timothée Chalamet contest of 2024?), the Heated Rivalry contest asks every curly-haired, ripped man in the tristate area to come out and participate for his ego and our viewing pleasure. And that's a beautiful way to start off 2026. 

The rules are simple: show up by 2pm, warm up your best Golden Retriever boyfriend charm or that casually smoldering “I’m hot and I know it” glare and let the crowd decide whether you’re more Hollander, more Rozanov, or some uncanny blend of both. The prize ($50 in cash) is less an incentive than a cheeky wink at our parasocial relationship with both the characters and the actors, but it all boils down to Sunday in the park with hot men.

There’s no official judging panel or trophy, not even an erstwhile Stanley Cup. Instead, this is peak NYC participatory theatre. In a city where winter can feel like one long gray bore, spending a weekend afternoon at Washington Square Park watching grown adults lovingly channel their inner studs (and meeting up with fellow fans and fanatics of the show) is as New York as it gets: chaotic, earnest, a little absurd and deeply cheery.

Besides, while everyone else is staring at the knockoff Ilya and Shanes, you might just run into a Scott Hunter running through the park on his way for a blueberry smoothie. Extra banana.

To RSVP, click here.