NEW YORK — Fans queued for over an hour before the first major panel at BookCon, eager to hear from Rachel Reid and Jacob Tierney, the author and showrunner behind the hit series Heated Rivalry. The session, titled “Game Changing TV: Heated Rivalry,” drew a crowd of 3,000, many wearing team jerseys and t-shirts emblazoned with the faces of stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storie.
Moderated by former Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Versha Sharma, the conversation traced the lightning-fast journey of the adaptation. Tierney, known for co-creating and directing Letterkenny, revealed that the project moved from pitch to premiere in just over two years—a rare pace in television. HBO acquired the series before filming was complete, with the final episode delivered only days before its November 28, 2025, debut.
Reid, author of six novels in the Game Changers series, joined the process early, meeting Tierney via Zoom. She praised the collaborative atmosphere, noting her involvement in script reviews and casting decisions. Though Williams and Storie were absent, both sent video questions. Storie asked what made the partnership so effective; Reid and Tierney agreed their creative instincts aligned from the start, citing the iconic kiss scene in episode five as a moment where their visions merged seamlessly.
The panel also addressed the show’s candid portrayal of intimacy. Tierney emphasized that the frequent sex scenes serve character development, allowing vulnerability and honesty between protagonists, rather than existing for shock value. Music choices—such as Tatu’s “All The Things She Said” and Wolf Parade’s “I’ll Believe in Anything”—were selected to evoke specific emotional beats, likened by Tierney to casting the right actor.
Looking ahead, Tierney is writing season two, which adapts Long Game, the sequel to Heated Rivalry. He described it as “emotionally sophisticated,” with elements from Reid’s Role Model woven in. Reid is currently writing Unrivaled, the next book in the series, slated for a 2027 release. She acknowledged the added pressure of writing amid the show’s soaring popularity.
The session closed with Sharma’s observation that Reid’s fictional universe offers a vision of the world as it should be—a sentiment echoed by the enthusiastic audience.
Heated Rivalry has become a cultural touchstone since its premiere, blending romance, sports drama, and authentic queer representation in a way that resonates widely. With season two in production and new novels on the horizon, the franchise shows no signs of cooling down.
