Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams defended for ‘hard launching’ girlfriend after ‘queer-baiting’ accusations

Heated Rivalry breakout star Hudson Williams has been defended after facing unfair criticism for posting a Valentine's tribute to his girlfriend on social media on Saturday (14 February).

He shared six heartwarming snaps with his partner, alongside the caption: "With me since my 2000 gold Mazda protege smoked and squealed and I had no job."

The 25-year-old Canadian actor starred in the fan-favourite sports romance TV show, which became an instant hit when all six episodes were released last month on NOW TV and Sky Atlantic.

Based on Rachel Reid's books, the LGBTQ+ show follows the on-ice rivalry and the secret, off-ice romance between professional hockey players Shane Hollander (Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie).

Now, I know what you're thinking: why would he be facing backlash for hard-launching his relationship on Valentine's Day?

Well, according to Parade, Williams, who has never spoken out about his sexuality, but of course, plays a gay character in the hit show, has bizarrely been accused by a small minority of viewers of 'queer-baiting'.

As per Pink News, 'queer-baiting' is a term which refers to 'authors, writers, or show runners (etc) attempting to attract an LGBT audience by hinting at same-sex relationships between characters'.

Heated Rivalry became an instant success as soon it dropped in the UK in January (Accent Aigu Entertainment)

More recently, it's controversially shifted to suggest that real-life people can potentially also 'queer-bait' by hinting that they're part of the LGBTQ+ community to attract publicity and a certain fanbase, when really they're not.

However, this is quite a problematic concept, and whether real people can 'queer-bait' is a subject of intense debate, as you don't actually know everyone's sexuality, nor are they entitled to tell you.

A lot of LGBTQ+ charities and websites affirm that a real person can't queer-bait. As per them, in most cases, those who are being accused just haven’t defined their sexualities in concrete terms for the public.

For example, Heartstopper actor Kit Connor was 'forced' to come out as bisexual after social media users incessantly speculated about his sexuality and accused him of 'queer-baiting'.

Meanwhile, others have also reopened the debate of whether queer actors should exclusively play queer roles.

One social media user wrote: "Good thing I never watched it. I have no interest in straight actors in queer roles anymore. You all enjoy it,”

However, others rushed to defend Williams and put a stop to any hate towards his partner, writing: "But real talk I hope she has a lovely day and fans of fictional television shows figure out that the actors are not the characters and are actually real people with real relationships they deserve to have with no concern for random ass peoples parasocial behavior towards them."

Hudson Williams has faced unfair criticism after 'hard-launching' his girlfriend on Instagram on Valentine's Day (Instagram/@hudsonwilliamsofficial)

While someone else agreed: "It’s called acting. It’s ok for straight actors to act gay, and it’s ok for gay actors to act straight. I don’t only want to be cast in straight roles. They very clearly said they wouldn’t talk about their sexuality in the run-up and press tour. You don’t want to stigmatize straight actors."

Another fan rightly pointed out: "Queer-baiting is when a piece of fiction teases the possibility of a queer relationship that is never consummated or confirmed. At its worst, it's a cynical bone thrown to an audience looking for progressive representation that the artist never planned on portraying.

"At its best, it's simply an unintended dynamic or characters/actors having chemistry. Real humans cannot queerbait, because real people do not owe you a specific sexual act, identity, or encounter."

Meanwhile, someone else quipped: "Real people can't queerbait. Queerbaiting is trying to make you think a gay ship is going to happen and never intending to actually go through with it."

Speaking about the 'queer-baiting' claims in a previous interview with Deadline, Williams acknowledged the speculation, telling the publication in December: "I think there’s never a question for me, when I would dream of becoming in the public eye, that I would want just a level of privacy.

“But of course, I agree. I want queer people telling queer stories, but also, there’s the element of Connor and I – we’re best friends, and we love expressing that physically. You see people who infer or assume, and you kind of have to let that go.”

Tyla has contacted a representative for Williams for comment.