“We deserve a gay show that is sexy and horny and fun”: Jacob Tierney on his new queer hockey romance, Heated Rivalry
The Letterkenny writer and director discusses his love of romance novels, homophobia in hockey culture and ditching bro comedy for more earnest fare
As the brain behind shows about dudes drinking beer and telling fart jokes, you’re associated with frat-boy humour. A gay hockey romance feels like a departure, no? Yes. I stepped back from the Letterkenny universe to do something different. I loved working on those shows, but I feel like I’ve put in my dude time. I told my agents, “If you send me any work related to sports, I’m going to kill you!” Then I presented them with Rachel Reid’s gay hockey series, Game Changers. A sincere gay romance is very different from bro comedy.
You don’t strike me as the typical romance reader. I discovered Rachel’s books during the pandemic. A friend suggested that I get into smutty gay romances. When I found Game Changers, I was hooked right away. And not ironically; it wasn’t a guilty pleasure. I appreciated the storytelling: extremely sexy, funny and sweet.
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And you thought, This is my next project? Not immediately. I didn’t yet understand the breadth of the appeal. Then I came across an article on how romance is a billion-dollar industry that doesn’t get any respect. It also explained that hockey romance, in particular, had exploded in America even though hockey is considered a second-tier sport there. Heated Rivalry, the second book in Rachel’s series, was mentioned. Suddenly, I thought, If someone else options this book, I’ll be devastated. I followed Rachel on Instagram, and it turned out that she was a Letterkenny fan. We talked about my vision for the show.
Which was what? Something extremely joyful. This is a gay love story set in the world of hockey, so its very existence is an act of rebellion. But the show itself is happily ever after. I didn’t want to subvert too many romance tropes—I love these stories. This show is queer joy for adults. None of the characters go back to a miserable wife. No one self-harms. There’s a tendency in queer art to focus on real tragedies. Sometimes, it feels like we’re still telling stories about the McCarthy era or the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We deserve to have a gay show that is sexy and horny and fun.
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Was there any concern that this might be a tough sell to the suits? Oh, definitely. There are many studios where a pitch like this would be DOA. It’s about finding an executive who understands, and Rachel Goldstein-Couto, head of development at Crave, was that person. She’s a romance fan, she knows this world and she wanted this show. But, right up to the end, I was still waiting for someone at Bell to step in and say, “Okay, now it’s time to cut out all that sex.”
I’ve seen the trailer. I guess that moment never came. Someone on the corporate team even thought one of the sex scenes was too quick. I was like, “It’s six and a half minutes long, you thirsty, thirsty people!” It’s not just queer stories that lack consensual, pleasurable sex; so many stories involving sex end up with an assault plot line or something else that’s dark and punitive.
You mentioned that the romance genre, despite delivering at the box office, isn’t respected. Why? It’s pure misogyny. Romance is something that mainly women consume, so it’s not given the same level of discourse. But it’s been amazing to see audiences come together around these books. Rachel’s works are queer, I’m queer, the show is queer. But one of the things that made it viable in terms of viewership was the baked-in female audience.
Can a gay hockey romance influence the NHL’s culture of homophobia? That’s not my agenda, but it’s something we address in the show. I love Rachel’s books because they exist in a world with homophobia. There are queer romance fantasies where a hockey team will have many openly gay players. Heated Rivalry is set in the real world—and a pro athlete being out is very rare because the risks are very real. That adds tension and dynamism.
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The show is set in Montreal but filmed in Toronto. Was that a sore point for you? I love Toronto. I lived in Little Italy for several years in my 20s and shot my first movie, Twist, in Parkdale. Filming in Montreal wasn’t financially feasible, so now we’re like the Americans, shooting in Toronto and pretending that it’s someplace else.
The series streams November 28. Do you hope to direct a second season? It’s my show! I’ll never abandon it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Courtney Shea is a freelance journalist in Toronto. She started her career as an intern at Toronto Life and continues to contribute frequently to the publication, including her 2022 National Magazine Award–winning feature, “The Death Cheaters,” her regular Q&As and her recent investigation into whether Taylor Swift hung out at a Toronto dive bar (she did not). Courtney was a producer and writer on the 2022 documentary The Talented Mr. Rosenberg, based on her 2014 Toronto Life magazine feature “The Yorkville Swindler.”
