Heated Rivalry Author Rachel Reid Details How Show’s Success Is Helping Her Parkinson’s Diagnosis

Rachel Reid is making progress on and off the ice.

While the romance novelist, whose Game Changers book series serves as the basis for the hit HBO Max show Heated Rivalry, is relishing in the success of the small screen adaptation, she’s also grateful for how it has helped her manage her Parkinson’s diagnosis, which she received in 2023.

“An amazing thing that’s come out of this though is [show creator] Jacob [Tierney] was on CNN a few weeks ago,” Rachel told Variety in an interview published Dec. 30. “For whatever reason, the interviewer asked him about my Parkinson’s diagnosis.”

The 45-year-old added, “I thought it was kind of 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.”

And given that Rachel has “never gotten to talk to a Parkinson’s expert,” she was especially surprised by the outreach.