BURST
The gloves are coming off as B.C. cities join the fray to claim one of the stars of the hit hockey romance series Heated Rivalry as their own.
The popular Crave Original show has taken the world by storm and catapulted B.C.-born-and-raised actor Hudson Williams to fame.
Tourism Kamloops had proudly touted Williams’ roots, with its Instagram bio identifying it as the Canadian star’s birthplace.
Ottawa Tourism pointed out it’s the hometown of Williams’ character, Shane Hollander, while Montreal bluntly told other cities to “Back off. He’s ours,” a reference to Hollander playing for the fictional Montreal Voyageurs in the show.
Even McGill University has jumped in, with its IG bio identifying it as the “alma mater of Shane Hollander’s dad.”
Metro Vancouver cities have got into the action.
Recently, New Westminster staked a claim to Williams after the actor told Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon that he had waited tables at The Old Spaghetti Factory.
“A lot of sourdough bread being served and spaghetti being drooped, bad reviews being left,” he told Fallon.
“Were you good?” asked Fallon. “No, not at all,” he deadpanned.
“I was pretty good at managing the amount of tables I had, but the thing that I was kind of poor at was like, if I’m not feeling a smile, I can’t put one on, you know. That’s not very Canadian so, yeah, they didn’t like that.”
Following the interview, Tourism New Westminster posted a cheeky post on its social media account, saying: “Before the fame. Before the fan edits. Before the comment-section chaos. There was New Westminster,” with an emoji of a bowl of spaghetti.
“Because once you’ve served spaghetti in New Westminster … you’re a New Westie,” it said.
The tourism organization’s IG bio now reflects the Williams connection: “Proud home of Hudson Williams’ former workplace.”
Destination Vancouver wasn’t about to let East Coast cities claim Williams without a fight.
It presented a strong case “that this man is ours” in a playful social media video where a “lawyer” laid out the city’s proof, including Williams’ pre-fame gig at the Old Spaghetti Factory in New West, how he went to school at Langara College, and had stated he lived in Vancouver with his mom.
“Nothing more Vancouver than that,” she deadpanned.
She also pointed out Williams spent new year’s in Vancouver with Connor Storrie — the American actor who plays Hollander’s chief rival and love interest Ilya Rozanov in the show — and was spotted at the downtown Vancouver restaurant Nightingale and at Speeders in Richmond, a go-karting facility.
Tourism Kamloops conceded the point. “Touche,” it said in the comments. “We’d be open to joint custody.”
Langara College also claimed bragging rights on its alumnus: “Actually, he is ours.”
One of the commenters jokingly asked if Williams rode the No. 49 bus, the busy route between the University of B.C. and Metrotown that goes through Langara on East 49th Avenue.
Whether Williams took public transit in and around Vancouver hasn’t been confirmed. TransLink has yet to lay claim to being Williams’ transportation of choice.