How Rachel Reid And Jacob Tierney Took ‘Heated Rivalry’ From Thin Ice To Television Mega-Hit: “The Show Has Taken Us All By Surprise”

Heated Rivalry didn’t conscionable break done — it rewrote nan manufacture playbook.

​In nan 5 months since its Season 1 finale, nan erstwhile “unconventional” adjustment has emerged arsenic a breakout success, reshaping expectations astir genre, LGBTQ+ storytelling and representation. Based connected Rachel Reid’s bestselling novel, nan queer lucky play follows nan steamy, contentious narration betwixt rival prima players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie). The bid has since earned GLAAD Media Awards, a Peabody Award win, and 18 Canadian Screen Awards nominations, signaling some its captious acclaim and taste impact.

For show creator Jacob Tierney, nan reception continues to beryllium arsenic unfathomable arsenic it has been meaningful. “This show has taken each of america by surprise. The effect that it’s had connected group was not thing 1 tin anticipate,” he says. “It’s been genuinely moving and incredibly meaningful that this has touched group nan measurement that it has, and I will beryllium grateful for nan remainder of my life.”

Now marked by success, it’s difficult to ideate that Heated Rivalry almost didn’t beryllium because of its audacious concept. While pitching pinch producing partner Brendan Brady, they observed a pattern: first curiosity, followed by hesitation. “[Executives] were like, ‘Tell maine much astir that,’” Tierney says, “and erstwhile we did, they said, ‘I don’t deliberation we tin do that.’” The rumor wasn’t liking but precedent. “No 1 other was pitching a basking and dense cheery lucky soap opera aliases romance. We weren’t competing pinch different ideas,” he explains. U.S. and Canadian buyers hesitated, but Tierney embraced specificity alternatively of adapting it to TV conventions. “This show, connected paper, was not doing what TV is expected to do, but I knew this was really it had to go. And I was right,” he says. Tierney’s tenacity landed Heated Rivalry connected Bell Media’s Canadian streaming platform, Crave, which past led to HBO buying nan bid for world distribution.

That small heart besides mirrors Reid’s attack erstwhile she first group retired to constitute nan Game Changers bid successful nan precocious 2010s, each book focusing connected nan individual and nationalist relationships of different antheral lucky players.

“I was bothered by galore things astir lucky culture,” Reid says. “As a fan, I wanted to reside immoderate of them.” One of them is nan truth that nan NHL remains 1 of nan only master sports pinch nary openly cheery players progressive aliases retired successful its history.

With Reid aiming to disrupt expectations successful publishing, Tierney extended that disruption to nan screen. Heated Rivalry, while still contending pinch nan strict heteronormative and masculine quality attributed to lucky culture, builds a romance betwixt Shane and Ilya that is neither sidelined nor simplified. It balances nan affectional intimacy pinch nan stakes of a sports play and expands queer storytelling, allowing its cardinal narration to beryllium arsenic a fully-realized emotion communicative alternatively than a bid of stereotypical traumas. Allowing queer joyousness to thrive successful nan look of hardship was a attraction that resonated pinch audiences agelong underserved by mainstream television, which had only offered a mini fistful of tragic queer emotion stories.

“My books are astir nan effects of toxic masculinity connected men,” says Reid, whose characters must study to wade done societal expectations to definitive their hearts’ desires.

On screen, that extent is anchored by Williams and Storrie, actors plucked from restaurant-server obscurity. Their chemistry and casting were thing short of kismet. Tierney explains they saw loads of actors, immoderate of whom, aft proceeding descriptions that called for “fairly definitive nudity” and “intimate content” nary longer wanted to publication for nan part. However, erstwhile nan brace did their chemistry publication connected Zoom, that’s erstwhile Tierney and co. knew they yet had thing special. “Boy, erstwhile [their chemistry] is there, you tin consciousness it,” he says. “I was acutely alert that this doesn’t conscionable happen. It was shockingly bully what they had going on.”

Recalling nan first time of filming, which included Episode 1’s Las Vegas activity segment and Episode 6’s heart-wrenching cheery personality confession from Shane to Ilya, Tierney says that aft seeing nan brace excel successful nan affectional wringer, his ain “nerves were retired nan window, I knew I could propulsion thing astatine those guys.”

“I was bothered by galore things astir lucky culture. As a fan, I wanted to reside immoderate of them.”

With Season 2 successful development, Tierney and co-writer Michael Goldbach are focused connected expanding nan story and pushing Williams and Storrie moreover further. Expected to premiere successful 2027, Season 2 will tie from The Long Game, nan sixth installment that serves arsenic a nonstop sequel to Shane and Ilya’s relationship. The book explores codependency, intelligence wellness and nan realities of sustaining emotion nether pressure. “You’ve sewage your happy ending… you get to beryllium successful a relationship,” says Tierney, explaining wherever nan couple’s narration stands astatine present. “You deliberation that’s erstwhile it gets easy? It’s not.”

Reid’s Unrivaled — nan seventh book successful nan bid and nan 3rd astir Shane and Ilya — besides arrives successful 2027. And she has 2 untapped standalone novels. “I’ve been spoiled by really bully an adjustment tin be,” says Reid. “I’ll beryllium peculiar astir who adapts those, but I would emotion for it to happen.” For TV, discussions proceed to grow nan Game Changers universe. Tierney adds, “There’s intelligibly an appetite for more. We’re happy to beryllium nan sous chefs of a bunch of shows that group could love.”

It’s clear that immoderate nan creatives down Heated Rivalry person successful store, it’s much than conscionable a breakout. It’s a increasing franchise built connected risks that paid off. And if Reid and Tierney person proven anything, it’s that stories erstwhile considered excessively unconventional aren’t extracurricular nan mainstream. They’ve been waiting for their clip to travel disconnected crystal and into nan spotlight.

The Journey From Pitch To Phenomenon

The communicative of really Heated Rivalry became a world hit, taste arena and 24/7 meme-making instrumentality isn’t purely a imaginative one. For TV’s buzziest show to emerge, it besides took bold boardroom decision-making and gritty, financial grunt work.

When Jacob Tierney first approached improvement execs astatine Canadian streamer Crave pinch nan thought for nan series, it’s adjacent to opportunity it wasn’t nan accustomed transportation that demands a greenlight. However, Justin Stockman, VP of contented improvement and programming, and his squad astatine Crave genitor Bell Media saw thing and encouraged Tierney to unafraid authorities to Rachel Reid’s books. “A cheery romance targeting women, taking spot successful hockey. It gets your attention,” says Stockman.

Excitement grew arsenic nan first scripts came in, but Crave was astatine a crossroads. Potential co-developers, chiefly successful nan U.S., were not biting — perchance because of nan greenlight aversion that often accompanies manufacture consolidation. “We weren’t uncovering takers, but nan feedback was truthful affirmative that we became obsessed pinch nan conception moreover though nary 1 was penning nan checks­ — we didn’t return it arsenic a rejection, but a denotation of nan times,” says Stockman. “It was truthful beardown that we conscionable decided to do it and         deed ‘go’.”

Boy, erstwhile [their chemistry] is there, you tin consciousness it. I was acutely alert that this doesn’t conscionable happen. It was shockingly bully what they had going on.

Running successful parallel to Crave’s greenlight was Bell Media’s acquisition of U.K.-based supplier Sphere Abacus successful March 2025. Bell already owned a chunk of Sphere Media, which successful move owned a mostly successful Sphere Abacus, and pinch Bell nan caller owner, destiny had now conspired astir Heated Rivalry. “It was 1 of nan first things we did together,” recalls Stockman. “They sewage it plopped successful their laps.”

Jonathan Ford, laminitis and managing head of Sphere Abacus, picks up nan story. “We were very fortunate for this title,” he says. “I person to springiness immense respect to Justin and his squad for seeing an opportunity astatine an early shape that others astir nan world didn’t.”

Ford instantly went to work. Sphere Abacus had go 1 of Europe’s apical independent sellers pursuing its 2020 launch, and nan squad began shopping Heated Rivalry arsenic a pre-buy astatine MIPCOM Cannes past twelvemonth successful October. The marketplace buzz was immediate. Production was good underway successful Canada arsenic talks pinch nan likes of HBO progressed. Even so, Ford admits he was blindsided by nan sound emerging astir nan show, arsenic fans petitioned channels to bargain it. “We each somewhat misunderstood really beardown and fervent that fanbase was,” he adds.

Crave clocked connected and decided to ditch an first scheme to motorboat nan show astir nan Winter Olympics successful February this year, moving it up to nan weeks earlier nan 2025 vacation play — Crave’s busiest clip of nan twelvemonth for streaming numbers. “Everything is simply a bet successful this industry, but because of nan feedback and we spot our ain taste, it felt it could beryllium really big,” says Stockman. The move became a masterstroke.

In November, Sphere Abacus tied up big-money acquisition deals pinch HBO successful nan U.S. and Australia (which would later threat up parts of Europe and Asia arsenic well) successful what Ford calls “one of nan fastest deals I’ve ever known,” pinch Movistar Plus+ successful Spain and Sky successful New Zealand besides buying rights. The bid was becoming a financial occurrence moreover earlier its launch.

For Bell, Heated Rivalry was becoming a “daily increasing snowball” arsenic nan popular civilization momentum took disconnected and HBO cranked its trading instrumentality up to eleven. “The societal media buzz was getting retired of power weeks earlier nan launch,” recalls Stockman. The liking had dispersed good beyond nan BookTok world and erstwhile nan show yet debuted, Instagram feeds were saturated pinch overnight stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams.

“We’d surgery through,” says Stockman. “We were successful The Onion — The Onion! And past The Daily Show, past The Tonight Show and past we had Anderson Cooper talking astir it connected New Year’s Eve.”

Ford, whose institution secured much pre-buyers for Season 2, notes really nan building ‘re-heating’ — watching Heated Rivalry aggregate times, has go “endemic” arsenic nan bid buried itself heavy successful nan world zeitgeist. Storrie presenting Saturday Night Live and nan stars’ carrying of nan Olympic torch only sent nan bid further into nan stratosphere.

“It’s an breathtaking spot to be,” he says. “Heated Rivalry has elevated our spot successful nan marketplace and each purchaser and shaper references it. We’ve each been fortunate, but luck comes for nan brave.” —Jesse Whittock