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Carly Rae Jepsen hints she named baby after Heated Rivalry character

A woman with orange hair holds a baby, looking up and away with her cheek resting on the baby's head, in a sunlit indoor setting with a partial view of a city outside.

Published by Cover Media

09 Sep 2026

Carly Rae Jepsen has hinted she named her baby after a character on Heated Rivalry.

The Call Me Maybe hitmaker and her husband, musician Cole M.G.N., welcomed a son in March.

While Carly and Cole, real name Cole Marsden Greif-Neill, didn't announce their little one's name at the time, the Canadian star has now shared that she was influenced by the hit Canadian TV show.

"It was an incredible show. Ilya is the name of my son. Maybe, not maybe because of that show," she told The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Tuesday.

In the series, Connor Storrie plays Ilya Rozanov, a professional ice hockey player who maintains a secret romance with a rival, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams).

Previously, Heated Rivalry creator Jacob Tierney revealed he wanted Carly to pen an original song for the show.

And the singer-songwriter insisted the gig would be a "dream" for her if Jacob approaches her about a collaboration for the upcoming second season, which is currently in production.

Elsewhere in the conversation, Carly opened up about her decision to leave Scooter Braun's music label and switch to Interscope Records.

"I wanted to do something a little bit less mainstream, and I liked what he had offered, but I didn't necessarily think it was what I wanted anymore. I felt like it was just going to be a little bit easier to shake hands, walk away and go let my freak flag fly, so to speak," the 40-year-old explained. "I wouldn't say I had complete agency from the beginning, but not because they were trying to take it away. But I didn't know how to take it."

Carly's eighth studio album, Day and Night, will be released on 18 September.

Published by Cover Media

09 Sep 2026