“Heated Rivalry” star Hudson Williams said he’s received messages from closeted professional athletes since the massive popularity of the TV show.
The HBO Max acquired series is based off the “Game Changers” book series by Rachel Reid. It follows two closeted pro hockey players who are rivals on the ice, but hook up in secret for more than a decade and develop feelings for one another.
Williams made an appearance on “Andy Cohen Live”Wednesday and revealed he’s actually heard from professional athletes who haven’t come out yet — much like his character, Shane Hollander, in the show.
Williams said he’s heard not only from hockey players, but football and basketball players as well.
“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,’” he said. “They’re reaching out to Rachel [Reid], our author, who will then kind of relay these lovely anonymous emails.”
Williams, 24, said he’s also received private DMs.
“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,’” he shared.
“Heated Rivalry,” which also stars Connor Storrie as Shane’s love interest, Ilya Rozanov, became a surprise breakout success after debuting in November.
Fans continue to have intense interest in Williams and Storrie’s close friendship off-screen as well, and the actors talked about their chemistry in an interview with Vanity Fair last month.
“Me and Hudson had the chemistry down before we even started acting,” Storrie, 25, said.
Williams added, “We got comfortable just being inches from each other’s face and invading each other’s personal space. A nightmare for HR.”
Williams also shared that his “pretty close bond” with Storrie “made it comfortable going into territories where you’re closer with a person than any other coworkers are with their coworker.”
“Unless they’re sleeping together.” he joked.
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