Connor Storrie is enjoying the fruits — specifically, carbs — of his breakout role.

On Jan. 14, Storrie, who plays the stony-yet-sentimental Ilya Rozonov in streaming phenomenon “Heated Rivalry,” stopped by TODAY. During his visit, he stopped in to the TODAY kitchen for a tuna melt and a can of ginger ale — both key points in Ilya and Shane’s (Hudson Williams) love story.

He also revealed juicy tidbits from the set, like his acting motivation in one scene in the show’s season finale.

In Episode 6, after Shane’s dad catches the hockey stars together, the couple and Shane’s parents sit down for a meal to discuss all the details of their years-long secret love affair.

It was during this discussion that fans noticed Ilya gleefully gobbling down mouthfuls of spaghetti.

During the 3rd Hour of TODAY, he sat with cohosts Craig Melvin, Dylan Dreyer and Al Roker to discuss his Russian accent, skating skills and more. Then Dylan asked him if chowing down was part of his character or if “he was just ready for pasta.”

“I’m very LA; I don’t do a lot carbs or gluten,” Storrie revealed. “It’s not really my thing. So I think I was just really relishing in the excuse to eat pasta for the first time for a long time.”

Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) in Episode 6 of HBO Max’s “Heated Rivalry.”
Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) in Episode 6 of HBO Max’s “Heated Rivalry.”HBO Max

He added that a producer then showed him a take where another one of his own mannerisms came through.

“I guess I do a little dance while I’m eating, like I’m a little kid,” he said to laughter from the cohosts. “I don’t know that I do that, but now, even in my real life, I kind of find it sometimes.”

While Storrie jokes his spaghetti-scarfing was not “character work” but “just pasta,” fans of the show dug a little deeper into its meaning.

“The background detail of Ilya just shoveling pasta into his face in the finale of ‘Heated Rivalry’ is there for so much more than just a small laugh,” Instagram user Cassandra Morann said in a viral fan analysis.

“Ilya feels so safe here, and even David is looking out for Ilya. He’s giving him more food. He even tells him he gets Russian vodka. The care for Shane and by proxy, for Shane’s partner, is so evident that Ilya immediately gets put at ease,” she said. “So he is just happily chowing down because he has been through actual hell.”