‘Heated Rivalry’ star Hudson Williams has heard from closeted pro hockey players

Heated Rivalry star Hudson Williams says the hit HBO show has inspired closeted professional athletes to reach out.

The HBO Max LGBTQ+ drama is based off the Game Changers book series from author Rachel Reid. The story follows fictional Canadian hockey player Shan Hollander (Williams) and Russian star Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie) whose heated rivalry on the ice also features a romance off it.

Thursday morning, Williams was interviewed by Andy Cohen on his SiriusXM show. And after he was asked about receiving messages from closeted viewers who watched the show, Williams said even professional athletes are reaching out.

“It’s definitely the people who reach out, somewhat anonymously, who are like, ‘I’m a professional player still and I’m still in the closet,’” Williams said.

After Cohen reacted with surprise to the admission, Williams confirmed he’s heard from hockey, football and basketball players.

“They’re reaching out to Rachel, our author, who will then kind of relay these lovely anonymous emails,” Williams explained. “Sometimes they’re just reaching out privately, through like 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 has sparked speculation about whether the NHL is ready to embrace an openly gay player. Heated Rivalry’s story begins in 2008 and runs through the late 2010s. In reality, several athletes have opened up about their sexuality since 2007, including Carl Nassib, Jason Collins, Robbie Rogers and Michael Sam. LGBTQ+ advocate Brock McGillis, a retired semi-pro hockey player, also came out as gay in 2016. And while women’s leagues have many stars who are out, men’s sports do remain an area of society that lacks prominent out voices.

There has never been an openly gay player who was on an active NHL roster. But it shouldn’t be surprising to learn there are closeted gay athletes who reached out anonymously with thoughts or opinions on the HBO show. And hopefully those athletes will feel comfortable to come out when they’re ready.