Nineteen92 is ready to show off its latest magazine cover after teasing a photo shoot with “Heated Rivalry” star Robbie G.K. on Instagram two weeks ago.
And only Variety has the first look at one of the covers and a selection of the sexy pics from the digital magazine’s February issue.
In one photo, G.K., who plays Kip on the hit queer hockey series, shows off his body, going shirtless underneath a blazer. In another shot, he flexes his biceps in an asymetrical tank top.
The black and white portraits are by photographer and Nineteen92 editor-in-chief Tyler Chick. Andrew Matarazzo served as creative director, with styling by Peiwen Wang and groom by Abraham Esparaza.
“He has such a great leading man look, and I think it was really elevated in the way we captured him,” Matarazzo says. “Watching him embrace clothes that were very much outside of his personal style, and seeing his confidence grow from the start of the shoot was exactly why I enjoy directing actors who are open to going outside their usual comfort zones. Robbie is definitely starting a new chapter ahead.”
Tyler Chick
“Heated Rivalry” propelled its four male leads – Hudson Williams, Connor Storrie, François Arnaud and G.K. — to stardom within weeks of HBO Max acquiring the series from Canadian streamer Crave and premiering the first two episode over the Thanksgiving holiday.
The show follows the secret decade-long affair between champion hockey players Ilya (Storrie) and Shane (Williams). In the third episode, professional hockey player Scott (Arnaud) comes out of the closet by kissing Kip on the rink after his team wins the Stanley Cup.
Tyler Chick
“For Nineteen92, I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from old masters like Albert Watson and Peter Lindbergh, and when I partnered with Andrew he really saw the uniqueness of showing the soul of the person in the work,” Chick said. “I want to capture people, not airbrush away their humanity. Our humanity is so precious and so filtered nowadays, I’d like to look back at this project as something that was authentically honest and captured who these artists were at this point in time.”
“Heated Rivalry” is based on “Game Changer,” Rachel Reid’s series of queer hockey romance novels. While storylines for Season 2 have yet to be revealed by series creator Jacob Tierney, Reid told me in December that she hopes Scott and Kip will be featured more because of the couple’s popularity among the show’s fans.
Tyler Chick
More of G.K.’s photos will be released on Nineteen92’s Instagram throughout this weekend.
