Stephen MackintoshEntertainment reporter
Getty ImagesThe Heated Rivalry author said the success of the TV adaptation led her to seek specialist help for Parkinson's disease.
Rachel Reid, 45, was diagnosed with the disease in the summer of 2023, around the same time she was approached about making a film of her book series.
Heated Rivalry, about an illicit same-sex relationship between two hockey players, has become one of the most talked-about new TV shows in recent weeks.
IN Variety interview, The Canadian writer explained that a Parkinson's disease expert contacted her after learning of her diagnosis in a promotional interview for the series.
A follow-up appointment with a neurologist, Reed said, “could be a game-changer for me because I'm not really getting the treatment that I should be getting.”
Reed published her first book in the Game Changers series in 2018.
Five more books followed, and the television version soon created a buzz when it was released in North America in late November.
The show, adapted and directed by Jacob Tierney, will be released in the UK on January 10 on Sky and streaming service Now.
Speaking to Variety, Reed said an “amazing thing” has happened because of the attention the show has received.
“A few weeks ago, Jacob spoke on CNN. For some reason, the interviewer asked him about my Parkinson's diagnosis,” she recalls.
“I thought it was quite strange, but the next day one of the leading Parkinson's disease experts in the world reached out to me and asked if he could help me.”
Reid explained: “I have never been able to talk to a Parkinson's disease expert. I've been on the waiting list here for five years because I live in a very small place.
“He has now found me a Parkinson’s expert, a neurologist, and I have an appointment in a couple of weeks. “This could be a game changer for me because I’m not really getting the treatment that I should be getting.”
“He also told me how to change my medication so I could sleep because I never slept. This change made me sleep through the night, which helps a lot with writing.”
SkyReed said Parkinson's disease made it difficult for her to write “because I can barely control the mouse.”
“I can’t type for long,” she continued. “I find it difficult to sit in a chair for a long time. I need to find new ways to write.
“I don’t know if it will be voice to text. I don't know if I can write this way. It’s not natural, but I need to come up with something because it takes me a lot of time to write now.”
Heated Rivalry follows rival hockey players Shane and Ilya, played by Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie.
The couple is bound by rivalry and ambition, but they begin a secret romance that develops into a long-term relationship.
What is Parkinson's disease?
Parkinson's disease is a progressive disease that gets worse over time.
People with this disease have too little of the chemical dopamine in their brains because some of the nerve cells that produce it have stopped working.
- Symptoms include:
- involuntary trembling of body parts
- slow motion
- stiff and inflexible muscles
