Steven McIntosh, Entertainment Reporter
Getty ImagesThe author of Heated Rivalry has revealed the success of the TV adaptation has resulted in her receiving specialist help with her Parkinson’s disease.
Rachel Reid, 45, was diagnosed with the condition in the summer of 2023, around the same time she was approached about adapting her book series for the screen.
Heated Rivalry, which centres on an illicit same-sex relationship between two ice hockey players, has become one of the most talked-about new TV shows in recent weeks.
In an interview with Variety, the Canadian author explained that a Parkinson’s expert contacted her after hearing about her diagnosis in a publicity interview for the series.
The subsequent appointment she has secured with a neurologist, Reid said, “could change things for me, because I’m not really getting the treatment that I should be getting.”
Reid published her first book in the Game Changers series in 2018.
Five further books followed, and the TV version soon created a stir after launching in North America in late November.
The show, which is adapted and directed by Jacob Tierney, is set to launch in the UK on January 10 on Sky and the streaming service Now.
Speaking to Variety, Reid said an “amazing thing” had come out of the attention the show has received.
“Jacob was on CNN a few weeks ago. For whatever reason, the interviewer asked him about my Parkinson’s diagnosis,” she recalled.
“I thought it was odd, but then the next day, one of the top Parkinson’s experts in the world reached out to me and asked if he could help me.”
Reid explained, “I’ve never gotten to talk to a Parkinson’s expert. I’ve been on a five-year waiting list here because I live in a tiny place.
“Now he’s found me a Parkinson’s expert, a neurologist, and I have an appointment in a couple of weeks.” That could change things for me because I’m not really getting the treatment that I should be getting.
He also advised me on how to adjust my medication to improve my sleep, as I had been unable to sleep at all. That change made me sleep through the night, which really helps with writing.”
SkyReid said her Parkinson’s made it hard for her to write, “Because I can barely control a mouse.”
“I can’t type for very long,” she continued. “It’s challenging for me to sit in a chair for very long. I need to figure out new ways to write.
“I don’t know if that will be voice-to-text. I’m not sure if I can write that way. It doesn’t feel natural, but I need to figure out something because it is taking me a very long time to write now.”
Heated Rivalry follows rival hockey players Shane and Ilya, played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie.
The pair are bound by rivalry and ambition but begin a secret affair which evolves into a years-long relationship.
What is Parkinson’s disease?
Parkinson’s is a progressive condition that worsens over time.
The disease causes nerve cells that make dopamine to stop working, so there is too little of it in the brain.
- Symptoms include:
- involuntary shaking of parts of the body
- slow movement
- stiff and inflexible muscles
