The hit Canadian show Heated Rivalry may have drawn inspiration from Rachel Reid’s Game Changers novel series, but the show features numerous changes from its source material, specifically about Shane and Ilya’s first hookup. However, if the author’s latest comments are anything to go by, the said deviations were necessary to adapt her fan-favorite novels on the small screen in a coherent manner.
Rachel Reid says Shane and Ilya’s first hookup ‘had to be changed’ in Heated Rivalry show
During a recent conversation, the accredited novelist explained why the Heated Rivalry series chose to keep its leads, Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), apart during the transitional period between Episodes 1 and 2.
“That had to be changed,” Rachel Reid simply noted while speaking to TODAY. “Their first time having intercourse, the decision was made to move that to the second episode, to not have everything in the first episode. So, because of that, the snowstorm was added to the first episode to delay their meeting. And then the Vegas rooftop happened. And then, yes, two seasons go by where Ilya is just relentlessly texting Shane,” she remarked.
Notably, in the Game Changers books, Shane and Ilya kickstart a physical relationship right after connecting for the first time. However, this changes in the Heated Rivalry series, where the two plan to hook up but have to postpone their plans after a snowstorm cancels their hockey match-ups.
The pair also engages in an intense fight at a party. This ultimately delays Shane and Ilya’s first time together in bed by two years. As such, instead of meeting consistently, like in the pages, they end up sexting each other for a prolonged period.
“In the book, they are hooking up at that time because they’ve already had intercourse,” the author noted. “But obviously, we can’t skip that first time. Jacob said this is all my fault, because I didn’t describe what happened in those two seasons in the book. But I was like, no, it’s your fault for moving it to the second episode.”
Moreover, Rachel Reid admitted that this modification in Heated Rivalry was “probably one of the biggest changes” from the books. However, she added that such alterations do not occur much in the series.
Originally reported by Apoorv Rastogi on ComingSoon.net.
