Kerry Washington is ‘obsessed’ with ‘heated rivalry’
Kerry Washington goes all in as a ‘Heated Rivalry’ fan.
“I just bought one of those candles on Instagram: an ‘I’m coming to the cottage’ candle,” she told me Tuesday at the premiere of her new Apple TV series “Imperfect Women” at the Academy Museum. “I’m obsessed.”
The nine-time Emmy nominee (she won in 2020 as producer of Live In Front Of A Studio Audience: ‘All In The Family’ And ‘Good Times’) went so far as to call the queer hockey drama series “one of the best television series of the past decades.”
Believe it or not, I didn’t bring up the show in Washington. Earlier on the carpet, her husband, former NFL star and now actor and producer Nnamdi Asomugha, said she was a big fan. “What’s not to like about the show,” Washington said. “It’s 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, and Kerry Washington with Zinzi Coogler and Ryan Coogler at the 2026 Essence Black Women In Hollywood Awards.
Getty Images for ESSENCE
She recalled seeing Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and Kip Grady’s (Robbie GK) romance play out in Episode 3. “There are so many shows that try to do those kinds of flashback bottle episodes, but I thought, ‘Everyone go home and watch this. This is great television,'” Washington said. “At the end I was literally shouting at the TV.”
I suggested Asomugha a football version of ‘Heated Rivalry’. “Oh, my God,” he said. “That would be… wow. I didn’t even think of that. That’s interesting. Wow.”
Asomugha didn’t realize that “Heated Rivalry” has inspired some queer athletes to come out publicly. “That’s what art is for,” he said. “It’s meant to give you strength, so that’s great.”
Season 2 of “Heated Rivalry” was announced shortly after the series premiered on HBO Max and Canadian streamer Crave in November, with Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie reprising their lead roles as Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov. According to series creator Jacob Tierney, filming is expected to begin this summer.
Imperfect Women stars Washington, Elizabeth Moss and Kate Mara as three best friends whose lives are turned upside down after a horrific tragedy. “These girls are messy,” Washington said. “They make mistakes and try to figure out how to be fair.”
The first two episodes of the series will premiere on Apple TV on March 18.
“One of the things I’m most proud of about this show is that we cover a lot of ground thematically, but also tonally,” Washington said. “There are light moments, moments of humor, there’s a lot of thriller, danger-murder mystery. There’s a lot of romance and familial love.”
