François Arnaud’s Scott Hunter Brings Quiet History Into Heated Rivalry

Breaking Down Scott Hunter, Kip Grady, and the Relationship We Only See in Fragments

STAFF

Image courtesy of Crave / Bell Media

Not all love stories in Heated Rivalry unfold in real time.

Some exist in glances, subtext and emotional residue — and nowhere is that more apparent than in Scott Hunter, played by François Arnaud, and his complicated connection to Kip Grady.

Their relationship isn’t introduced with fanfare. It’s revealed in pieces. And by the time Episode 3 ends, it’s clear we’re not watching the beginning of something — we’re watching the aftermath.

Who Is Scott Hunter? Scott Hunter enters Heated Rivalry as a character already carrying emotional history. He’s composed, guarded and noticeably restrained — someone who seems to know exactly what he’s walking into, even when others don’t. Played with understated intensity by François Arnaud, Scott doesn’t announce his feelings. He absorbs them. His presence suggests someone who has already loved deeply, already been disappointed and learned how to survive without spectacle. That emotional discipline becomes central to how we understand his dynamic with Kip.

In Episode 3, Heated Rivalry offers a glimpse into Scott Hunter and Kip Grady’s relationship — but it does so obliquely. All beginning with a smoothie after his daily jogs. We see the beginning of an introduction so cute it almost makes you want to scream. And of course, a relationship secretly unfolding before our eyes giving us comfort that good things do unfold for the gays.

Instead, we see the tension that follows something unfinished.

There’s familiarity between them. Comfort. And underneath it, a strain that suggests unresolved feelings. Their interactions feel loaded with history — the kind that doesn’t need exposition because it’s already settled somewhere painful. What’s striking is how the show frames their connection as something that once was, rather than something actively forming. The energy isn’t hopeful. It’s cautious. Almost defensive.

If there was a rise, Episode 3 suggests we’re already witnessing the fall — or at least the moment where both men realize things cannot continue as they were.

Part of what makes this storyline compelling is what Heated Rivalry chooses not to explain.

For readers familiar with Rachel Reid’s book series, Scott and Kip’s relationship exists more fully in the broader Game Changer universe while apparently Heated Rivalry gives us a glimpse of the relationship. The show hints at that larger story without unpacking it, leaving non-book readers with a sense that they’re catching a chapter mid-turn.

That restraint feels intentional.

Rather than spelling out the trajectory of Scott and Kip’s relationship, the series allows it to exist as emotional context — something that informs their choices, shapes their reactions and quietly complicates the present.

François Arnaud excels in this kind of role. His portrayal of Scott relies on stillness rather than declaration. You can see the calculus happening behind his eyes — what to say, what not to revisit, what might reopen wounds best left closed. It’s a performance that suggests Scott isn’t confused about his feelings — he’s wary of them. And that distinction matters.

Viewers aren’t responding to Scott and Kip because their relationship is explosive. They’re responding because it feels real. Messy. Half-closed. Defined by timing rather than lack of feeling. Episode 3 doesn’t give us answers — it gives us evidence. Evidence that something meaningful existed, and that whatever ended it left marks on both sides. And with the knowledge that their story extends beyond what we’ve seen so far, the tension only deepens.

Heated Rivalry has positioned Scott and Kip as a relationship shaped by history rather than possibility — at least for now. Whether the series chooses to revisit that past more directly remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: their story isn’t finished, even if it’s currently unresolved.

So the question fans are left with is this:

Do you want Heated Rivalry to fully unpack Scott and Kip’s history on screen — or is the power of their relationship in what’s deliberately left unsaid?