Heated Rivalry fans are fired up — especially the tourists Artwork

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Closer Look - Insightful, credible, unfiltered conversations that matter

Heated Rivalry fans are fired up — especially the tourists

January 30, 2026 • Village Media Inc.

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Four stars? More like five-alarm fire.

‘Heated Rivalry’ is about as hot as a TV show can get, reaching huge audiences and critical acclaim across the globe.

Filmed in Guelph, Hamilton, Dundas and Toronto, the made-in-Canada Crave series has also been quite a boon for local tourism, as fans of the show flock to visit some of the sites where the show was shot — including Dundurn Castle and the Sleeman Centre, home of the Guelph Storm.

Joining us on tonight’s episode of Closer Look to talk about the hit show — and the many hometown connections — is reporter Taylor Pace, one of our colleagues at GuelphToday.

You can read her latest Heated Rivalry feature story HERE.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

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