Rachel Reid, author of the Game Changers series of novels that inspired the Heated Rivalry TV show starring Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander and Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov, has broken her silence on fans who speculated about her own sexuality and whether she would "have the right to write" these books about male hockey players who are gay/bisexual/queer and in the closet.
During the latest episode of the I've Never Said This Before podcast, which featured an interview with Reid, host Tommy DiDario asked the Heated Rivalry author the signature question of the show: "What is one thing that you've never said before that you want to share today?"
"Oh, boy!" Reid replied. "The thing that I haven't said before, and I'm gonna say it carefully, is that I think I've seen a lot of talk online about my own sexuality, and that of members of my family as well. And some stuff is stated as fact, and some stuff is speculated. I've never said… I don't talk publicly about my personal life for the sake of my family, and my children, and, you know, privacy."
Reid continued, "But the thing I haven't said, that I think is important to me, is that I don't think it ultimately matters, because what I'm writing is… I'm not a man, and I'm not a gay man, and I'm not a bisexual man. That's who I'm writing about. I don't think that the people that I am attracted to, at this stage in my life, gives me like any kind of credibility to write about gay men or bisexual men. So, as much as I know people want to know, I don't think it ultimately matters."
"I would not ever, like, try to use my sexuality as a way of being like, 'See, I have the right to write these books,' because I don't think that that's how it works," Reid added. "It's like, you have to just be sensitive and thoughtful when you approach these books, [or] whatever you're writing. And, I don't know, that's a complicated — now I'm saying way too much — but yeah, basically those are the thoughts I've had the last few weeks when suddenly these kinds of questions are being asked about me."
DiDario agreed, "I think that's really valid, and I think that's an important point too, because I think everybody has the ability to create the art that they want. They can write, or sing, or direct, or do whatever they want. I mean, tell any type of story they want. That's the freedom everybody has. It doesn't matter, at the end of the day, who you're sleeping with, or who you're not sleeping with. I think it's become such a focus on that, especially with actors and artists, and it's like, you've gotta separate the work from the human. It's a different thing."
"Yeah, criticize the work," Reid responded. "Criticize the person making it if they deserve it, but criticize the work first."
The I've Never Said This Before host added some context about how the overnight success of the Heated Rivalry TV show contributed to this wild reality that Reid is experiencing. "What a lesson you've had to kind of learn and face lately — being thrown into the popularity of what this book series has become with the show," DiDario explained. "You're like, 'Suddenly people are wondering about my life.'"
"Yeah, no, it's definitely weird, because authors, generally, we don't like to be looked at," Reid replied.
Fans can listen to Rachel Reid's full interview on I've Never Said This Before With Tommy DiDario on iHeart and all other podcast streaming services. The full video portion of the interview comes out Friday, January 9, on the show's YouTube channel.
