Nadine Bhabha on 'Heated Rivalry' Breakthrough Moment and Being the First Cast Member

Nadine Bhabha is opening up about her experience on the breakout series Heated Rivalry.

The 35-year-old actress brought Elena Rygg to life in season one, serving as the best friend to Robbie G.K.'s character Kip Grady. Her performance earned her a 2026 Canadian Screen Award.

Speaking with Seventeen for their "Every Fandom Has Its Favorite" digital cover, Bhabha pinpointed the exact turning point when she realized the show would explode in popularity. She traces it back to the Toronto premiere, which took place just four days before the series launched across Canada, the U.S., and Australia.

"There were fans of the books already at the venue, which was really unusual," she explained. "Then when the first two episodes came out, I'd never witnessed that level of press coverage for a show with absolutely no prior buzz. It was completely unexpected."

The momentum only intensified from there. "Everything shifted once episode three aired," Bhabha recalled. "That's when I thought, 'We've really created something special here.' Most shows build their audience gradually, but this was different. Jacob [Tierney] actually said he'd never experienced being watched in real time by audiences like this before."

What made Bhabha's journey particularly special was her unique position on the project. She was the very first person cast for the series. "I'll always remember when Jacob called to ask if I'd be interested in joining this new show," she shared. "I said yes immediately. It was incredible to be part of building that world from the ground up."

Bhabha and Tierney had previously collaborated on Letterkenny, the hockey comedy that Tierney co-created, so they already had an established creative relationship.

Beyond her own role, Bhabha reflected on what she believes audiences are most hungry for in queer storytelling. "It's really about grand, sweeping love stories," she said. "So much queer television deals with conflict and hardship, and while that authentically represents many people's lived experiences, we also need aspirational storytelling. If straight audiences have The Notebook, queer audiences deserve their own version of that kind of epic romance."

Production on Heated Rivalry season two is expected to commence in the coming months.