Jacob Tierney says Season 2 of Heated Rivalry may not make it all the way through The Long Game, the sixth and longest book in Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, even though the sequel season is expected to arrive in April 2027. Asked about adapting the novel, Tierney answered, “Who said I’m doing it all? There’s a lot of material,” a sign that the next chapter of the series may spread the story across more than one season.
That matters because The Long Game picks up Shane Hollander and Ilya Rosanov’s relationship after the events of Heated Rivalry, and Tierney has been clear that he does not want to rush it. He said he wanted to take Heated Rivalry seriously because he thinks that is what the material deserves, adding that there is “a version of it that’s pulpy and soapy, but I wanted to take it seriously because I am really transfixed by this relationship.”
Tierney also said he brought in Michael Goldbach as co-writer for the upcoming season, describing him as more than a longtime friend. “Mike is not just an old, dear friend of mine who I’ve known for years. He’s legitimately one of my favorite writers,” he said, adding that Goldbach writes “with so much heart and humor” and tends to “zig where you’re supposed to zag.”
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The creative plan points to a slower, more deliberate adaptation of a book that Tierney has already framed as unusually mature. “The Long Game is like sex Scenes from a Marriage,” he said, a comparison he followed by noting that the story is about what happens after the happy ending, when “real life can often smack you in the face.” He said the relationship will still end happily, but the road there will be shaped by ups and downs, along with realizations about themselves, each other, privacy and public life as a queer couple.
Tierney first spoke with Reid before the Deadline interview about adapting Heated Rivalry, and he said she took the characters seriously from the start. “These little tidbits in the first book become real issues for them [later],” he said. That same seriousness extends to the casting conversation around Hudson Williams, whom Tierney has addressed in the wake of racial backlash. In tying that response to the show’s broader approach, he said the production is continuing to give Shane and Ilya “the seriousness that this love affair deserves” while staying within the boundaries of the genre.
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The unanswered question now is not whether the story will continue, but how far Season 2 will go before it stops. Tierney’s comments make one thing plain: the series is being built to preserve the emotional arc of Shane and Ilya, even if that means leaving part of The Long Game for later.
