Heated Rivalry‘s Robbie G.K. and Game Changers book series author Rachel Reid didn’t miss Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper‘s live TV riffing of the popular Canadian drama series during CNN’s live New Year’s Eve special Wednesday night.
In their classic, hilarious back-and-forth on the annual NYE special, Cohen and Cooper debated who would play Ilya and who would play Shane on the LGBTQ+ sports romance series.
Amid their teasing of each other and boozing, Cooper brought up a reference to a bed with Cohen, telling Cohen there was “something about sleeping in your bed… It just, I don’t know,” suggesting he didn’t feel quite right about it.
“The bed frame,” Cohen interjected. “I didn’t give you the mattress.”
Cooper insisted, “Well, I know. But I don’t know. I just…”
“I thought that it made us like closer,” Cohen teased Cooper. “Like better brothers, or something,” to which Cooper laughingly replied,”This isn’t Heated Rivalry.” And from there, the banter took off, with the two debating who would play Ilya and who would play Shane, the show’s leads, with Cohen asserting to Cooper, “You’re Ilya, and I’m Shane.” Cooper reacted quickly, saying “What?! I”m not either of them. I’m Kip.”
Reid, who authored the Game Changers book series on which Heated Rivalry is based, reposted an image on her Instagram Stories of Cohen and Cooper’s back-and-forth with the caption, “I keep thinking nothing can surprise me at this point, but…
Robbie G.K., who plays Kip on the show, also posted the exchange.
Heated Rivalry follows rival hockey players Shane and Ilya, played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. The two are bound by rivalry and ambition, but begin a secret affair which evolves into a years-long relationship.
Canadian streamer Crave recently greenlighted a second season of the steamy ice hockey drama, with HBO Max again taking rights in the U.S. and Australia and Sky in the UK and Ireland. The drama is now Crave’s biggest original series on record, growing its viewership by nearly 400% in initial seven-day streams following its debut on Friday, November 28, per mParticle and Amazon Channels internal data.
