Heated Rivalry has offered a safe place for sports stars expressing their sexuality.
Hudson Williams, who stars as Shane Hollander in the show based on the book of the same name by Rachel Reid, reveals that sports stars across professional leagues have reached out about shielding their sexual identity.
HBO Max's Heated Rivalry follows two closeted professional hockey players who are rivals but hook up in secret for nearly a decade. The show has gained a lot of popularity on social media in the last few weeks, and Williams' DMs have been a safe haven for athletes who are dealing with the same adversities.
“It’s definitely the people who reach out somewhat anonymously who are like, ‘I’m still a professional player and I’m still in the closet,'” Williams told Andy Cohen Live last week. “They’re reaching out to Rachel [Reid], our author, who will then kind of relay these lovely anonymous emails.”
Williams added that his DMs as well have had sports stars reach out.
He continued: “And sometimes they’re just reaching out privately through Instagram, and those ones are the ones that really just kind of hit you and go, ‘Oh, so this is a fun show, and it’s celebratory, but also sometimes it’s just hitting people right in the nerve.'”
The show also stars Connor Storrie as Shane’s love interest, Ilya Rozanov.
Heated Rivarly is available now on HBO Max.
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