Heated Rivalry
News
Why HBO couldn't do much marketing for Heated Rivalry, according to showrunner Jacob Tierney: "Just be grateful there’s some horny people at HBO.”
Heated Rivalry showrunner Jacob Tierney explains why HBO didn't do more press for the episodes as they were airing during a BookCon 2026 panel.
April 21, 2026
Trent Cannon
News
The hockey crowds in Heated Rivalry are VFX and the raw footage looked like "COVID hockey" because no one was in the stands
Heated Rivalry was sold to HBO before the show's VFX had been finalized.
April 20, 2026
Jules Chin Greene
News
Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid opens up about how the TV series adaptation news buoyed her Parkinson's diagnosis just 3 or 4 days before
3 or 4 days after Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid was diagnosed with Parkinson's, she got the call to turn it into a TV series from Jacob Tierney
April 20, 2026
Trent Cannon
News
From book to screen fast: Heated Rivalry’s unusually quick path to TV success
It was only three years ago that Heated Rivalry writer/director/producer Jacob Tierney contacted Game Changers writer Rachel Reid about adapting her books to the screen
April 19, 2026
Jules Chin Greene
News
Watch Game Changing TV: Celebrating Heated Rivalry with Rachel Reid & Jacob Tierney from BookCon 2026!
Game Changers author Rachel Reid and Heated Rivalry showrunner Jacob Tierney brought steam to melt a whole city full of hockey rinks, and Popverse was there to catch their BookCon spotlight
April 18, 2026
Grant DeArmitt
News
Heated Rivalry might split its The Long Game adaptation into seasons 2 and 3, partially so it can add more material
Heated Rivalry creator Jacob Tierney says there's a lot to adapt from Rachel Reid's The Long Game, but that isn't stopping him from adding even more. (And by the way, we're going to spoil what "more" means)
April 08, 2026
Grant DeArmitt
News
The first chemistry read for Heated Rivalry was “lightning in a bottle," according to casting directors
The chemistry between Heated Rivalry's Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie was so hot that it nearly melted the ice they were skating on.
January 28, 2026
Trent Cannon
News
Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid didn't think her "sexually explicit queer books" were adaptable... until they suddenly were
We're glad she was wrong, as Heated Rivalry became one of the breakout shows of 2025 when it aired on HBO Max
January 21, 2026
Trent Cannon
News
Expect HBO's Heated Rivalry season 2 soon, says creator Jacob Tierney, but not "December 2026" soon
Tierney, who created Heated Rivalry based on the Game Changers novels by Rachel Reid, provided an exciting (yet tempered) updated on season 2's release schedule
December 31, 2025
Grant DeArmitt