First openly gay hockey pro claims ‘Heated Rivalry’ will cause players…
Brock McGillis, who’s considered the first openly gay skilled hockey participant, has a cold reception to “Heated Rivalry.”
The 42-year-old retired athlete spoke to the LGBTQ news web site PinkNews on Monday and claimed that the steamy sequence, which follows two rival skilled hockey players who start a secret gay romance, will not assist players come out of the closet.
“Nobody’s like, ‘Oh, yeah. This came out and now I’m ready [to come out].’ It’s not happening,” McGillis said. “It’s probably more likely to have an adverse effect on a player coming out.”
Brock McGillis in his Toronto dwelling on March 8, 2024. Toronto Star through Getty Images
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie in “Heated Rivalry.” HBO Max
“And I hate to be negative because I really enjoy the show,” he continued. “But I also don’t believe that many hockey bros are going to watch it. And I don’t think, if they are watching it, they’re talking about it positively.”
The former ice hockey goaltender also revealed that the first episode of the present, which is based on Rachel Reid’s “Game Changers” novel sequence, gave him “a panic attack.”
“I was scared. I dated a guy for three years, not a soul in my life knowing,” he shared. “We had an alias for [me in his phone] in case [his friends] ever saw.”
Brock McGillis attends Queerty Celebrates Pride50 Gala 2024. Getty Images
Brock McGillis playing ice hockey. Brock McGillis/Instagram
“Heated Rivalry” stars Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams. Instagram/Hudson Williams
McGillis even acknowledged that while he imagine hockey players are “really good people,” if he had kids, gay or straight, he wouldn’t allow them to play the sport.
“The language, behaviors, and attitudes that you get in locker rooms are sometimes homophobic — that starts at a very young age and progresses through your whole life,” he explained. “You’re programmed to feel that everyone will hate you and you’ll lose your career.”
McGillis added, “Sometimes I don’t think people recognize what they’re saying or the impact it has. But if you’re hearing that daily, it’s death by 1,000 paper cuts.”
Connor Storrie as Ilya Rozanov and Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander in “Heated Rivalry.” Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max
Brock McGillis celebrates Pride and the announcement of LGBTQ+ Virgin Voyages Charter with Atlantis Events in NYC on June 29, 2019. Getty Images for Virgin Voyages
Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie, the stars of “Heated Rivalry,” have each spoken about how they hope the present helps viewers who’re in the LGBTQ+ community.
“There’s both like the representation of a queer character that a lot of people relate with, whether they feel like him or they feel like they knew him,” Williams, 24, said in a current interview with Forbes.
“That element is really beautiful and I didn’t know if it would connect, you know? You only hope and it is on the person-to-person level, where they’re looking you in their eyes and that means something.”
Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams attend the premiere of “Heated Rivalry” in Toronto on November 24. Getty Images
Storrie, for his half, told Forbes that he realized the present’s impression during a fan meet-and-greet at a bookstore in Toronto.
“I think in theory, it’s really easy to talk about the importance of representation or what this means to people at large when we talk about communities or demographics that really love this book,” Storrie explained, “but it was such a crazy experience in-person to see someone face-to-face be like, ‘What you’re doing and the person that you are being on-camera means so much to me,’ and like have tears in their eyes.”
New episodes of “Heated Rivalry” air Fridays on HBO Max.
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