HBO’s Heated Rivalry is captivating audiences — but what did the TV adaptation change from Rachel Reid‘s Game Changers book series?
Based on the hit book franchise, Heated Rivalry follows two rival professional hockey players Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams) and Ilya Rozanov (Connor Storrie), whose animosity on the ice is just a front for a secret romance.
Heated Rivalry blew up on social media after premiering on Crave and HBO Max in November 2025 — in large part due to the heated scenes between Williams and Storrie. Creator Jacob Tierneyopened up about the work that went into developing the fictional TV couple.
“We talked about how every time these guys aren’t touching, they want to be,” Tierney told Swooon at the time. “So the act of not touching should be more difficult for them than touching. They would want to be physical with one another, and that’s part of the public/private dance that they do, and the frustration of being in public.”
He continued: “There’s a magnetism because there are two characters that essentially have this chemistry immediately. This magnetic electric thing is happening between them, and they do not get to satisfy it because they’re not allowed to be physical with each other the way that they would like to be in public.”
Keep scrolling for a breakdown of what differs in the TV adaptation of Heated Rivalry:
Expanding on Shane’s Life Outside of Romance
HBO
As readers may know, the book series doesn’t explore as much of Shane’s parents or his cultural identity since his mother is Japanese and his father is Canadian.
“I felt like [his cultural identity] needed to be said out loud because his name is Shane Hollander,” Tierney told Teen Vogue. “So you can whitewash him in your brain really easily when you’re reading a book or when you’re listening in a way that I don’t want to with this show.”
Speaking of Shane’s arc, his excessive dieting is addressed in Heated Rivalry‘s sequel book The Long Game. But the show doesn’t wait to hint at Shane’s complicated and concerning relationship with food.
Investing More Time in Scott Hunter
The third episode of the show focused on Scott Hunter (François Arnaud) and Kip’s (Robbie G.K.) romance, which is actually the central story of Reid’s Game Changer. Elsewhere in the HBO series, Scott is utilized more when it comes to Shane and Ilya’s romance.
Building up the suspense is a priority in the show, which waited years while the book spanned only two weeks between Shane and Ilya’s initial hookup and then taking the next sexual step.
Ilya’s Life Out of the Spotlight
HBO
Notably, Svetlana (Ksenia Daniela Kharlamova) and Sasha’s (Kaden Connors) individual roles in Ilya’s life are expanded on in the show compared to the book.
Less Locations
There are some places book fans were hoping to see that Tierney confirmed were cut due to budget restrictions preventing them from showing more areas on screen.
Share this:
Like this:
LikeLoading…
Discover more from The Maravi Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Jana Kramer is standing firm in her beliefs about vaccinating her children.
“I listened to a podcast episode about giving the baby a vax — what did you end up doing?” a fan asked Kramer, 42, in an Instagram Stories Q&A on Thursday, December 4.
Kramer responded, “The update I will give is we changed doctors’ offices to where it’s our choice and can ask as many questions and have the choice to do or not to do and not the … ‘if you don’t, then you’re not allowed to be in this office’ approach.”
Back in February, Kramer claimed on her “Whine Down” podcast that during a visit to her former doctor’s office, she “essentially got blamed” for her son having an ear infection because she had been “behind” on his vaccinations.
“I didn’t like how that felt. I got turned off by that comment, and so it didn’t make me want to go back to that office, because I’m like, ‘You just blamed me for my child having an ear infection.’ So like, I didn’t like that. I don’t even know why I’m crying, but like, it just made me feel like a bad mom or something,” she admitted.
Kramer shares daughter Jolie, 9, and son Jace, 7, with ex-husband Mike Caussin, as well as son Roman, 2, with husband Allan Russell.
The One Tree Hill alum added that she felt “overwhelmed” knowing that Roman “needs so many vaccinations,” but she also wasn’t sure if she trusted vaccinations yet.
Jana Kramer/Instagram
Kramer previously discussed vaccinations during a 2020 episode of her podcast, featuring special guests Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist and the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services as of 2025, and Dr. Abe Malkin, M.D., who is board-certified in family medicine and addiction medicine.
Kramer also spoke to Dr. Mehmet Oz, who has taken both a pro- and anti-vaccine stance, during another podcast episode in 2020. The pair discussed the widely disputed theory that vaccinations cause autism.
“To vaccinate or not to vaccinate. It’s been something that has quite frankly kept me up at night,” Kramer wrote via Instagram at the time. “If I’m being super honest, I’ve done the most amount of research since I’ve had Jace, since I’ve always heard about autism and boys with the [measles, mumps and rubella vaccine]. The more research I’ve done, I’ve questioned myself and thought, ‘Omg, am I the reason Jolie had a speech delay because of her vaccines?’”
The “Whiskey” singer continued, “As you can see, I don’t know the answers, and I have just prayed that I am doin the right thing but I sure wish there was a definite answer one way or another because for every article I see it gets debunked by the other. Quite frankly it’s exhausting.”
Kramer added that “another issue is the fact that people can be so mean” no matter which side of the debate one chooses to be on.
“So please, in the comments, don’t hate on me for vaccinating, don’t hate on others who have different opinions. Please offer your knowledge, but don’t be mean if someone doesn’t agree. Can we just agree to disagree kindly and have healthy conversations?” she concluded.
Share this:
Like this:
LikeLoading…
Discover more from The Maravi Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Blue Bloodsstar Andrew Terraciano has finally opened up about passing down the role of Sean Reagan after the character was recast in the Boston Blue spinoff.
“It’s beautiful because you’ll always remember every single line and every day that you had the opportunity to be that character,” Terraciano, 22, exclusively told Us Weekly about his time on the hit CBS series. “It doesn’t mean for even a second that somebody else can’t go and do something beautiful with it.”
Terraciano expressed gratitude for his time on Blue Bloods. “I got the joy of playing Sean, and I got to send him off into the world,” he noted. “Now somebody else gets that joy. We’re both getting to show what we do and then send Sean off into the world.”
CBS viewers have gotten very familiar with Terraciano after he got his start playing Donnie Wahlberg‘s onscreen son. The actor appeared in nearly 300 episodes from 2010 to 2024 before the show came to an end. Blue Bloods expanded into Boston Blue, but the role of Sean was recast with newcomer Mika Amonsen.
“I had somebody call me — actually the day that I was graduating — and they had spoken to my mom and she called me [crying]. They were like, ‘They might be looking for a different Sean,’” Terraciano recalled how he learned the news initially. “Shortly after we got the news, Donnie called me. It was a really beautiful moment of getting to hear from an old friend but also somebody that you respect so much and have learned so much from.”
Terraciano appreciated hearing from Wahlberg, telling Us, “We had such an amazing experience on Blue Bloods that when we talk we’ll always be friends and family first. I’m happy that there are so many other people that now get to share in that amazing experience.”
CBS / Courtesy Everett Collection
While Terraciano has yet to watch Boston Blue as he focuses on his studies — he is looking forward to checking in.
“I’m going to give it the time and the respect that it deserves,” he noted. “[But in terms of returning in some capacity] I said it to Donnie on the phone. If he says the word, I’ll be there. Not just with Blue Bloods or Boston Blue but with anything in life.”
As Boston Blue has proven to Us, Sean Reagan’s legacy on Blue Bloods has made him beloved to the fans. Terraciano wasn’t expecting the outpouring of love that ensued once he wrapped up his run in the fan favorite role — but he is grateful for the support now.
“I can’t say that I expected it but I appreciate it,” he shared. “It’s so meaningful to know that people love the character that I got to share in creating. I didn’t expect it to say the least.”
When Us spoke to Amonsen in a separate interview, he shared the way he wanted to pay tribute to Terraciano, who was grateful for the thought.
“I appreciate it because not only has there been such an outcry of love from the community but there’s also a very clear love coming to the show,” he explained. “It’s hundreds if not thousands of people who depend on their livelihood for a show to be made. It really is amazing that part of that character remains. Somebody can look back and say, ‘I want to pay homage to that. I want to respect that and I want to work on making something beautiful.’”
“The role provided me with such an insight into not only my own life but the lives of so many others. Because every time that you’re acting, you are learning so much about yourself and about the other person,” he explained. “So when you act with the same people for so long, you get such a deep understanding and you develop such a love for them.”
Instagram
In addition to Wahlberg, Terraciano got to share the screen with costars such as Tom Selleck, Bridget Moynahan, Len Cariou, Will Estes, Marisa Ramirez and Vanessa Ray.
“If they had asked us, I’m sure every single person in the cast would have happily stayed [on Blue Bloods] for the rest of our lives. When we found out that it was the end, I don’t think any of us really let ourselves accept for even a moment that it was a real thing that was ending,” he told Us. “When we had our last dinner scene, we just sat there. For half an hour we just went around the table telling the same old jokes that we had a thousand times before and asking the same questions that we had a thousand times before. None of us were willing to be the first to get up.”
For Terraciano, Blue Bloodsprovided him with a TV family. He recalled to Us how “emotionally devastating” it felt to film the finale — and how the cast has remained in each other’s lives since then.
“It was coming to terms with the thought that this opportunity is changing very, very significantly. But because of having had that opportunity, you are all getting propelled into the future in such a beautiful way,” he recalled. “I’m still in touch with a lot of people from the cast and crew. I speak to them fairly often. I’ve made a lot of friends through Blue Bloods that I will never lose.”
The hit CBS series also gave him the role of a lifetime.
Instagram
“After knowing these people for 15 years, you go out into the world with everything that they’ve given you and you hope that you’ve given them something,” he gushed. “You hold them in your heart and that they’re never gone. It was a weird kind of grief — but Sean had grown into his own thing.”
He continued: “Sean had become who he needed to be by the end of the show. So I was happy to send a character off into the world and I was happy to send my loving friends off into the world.”
“At the end of last spring, I got the fantastic opportunity to work in a dear friend director Sabrina Carlier’s rendition of Annie Baker’s The Antipodes. Not only did I have that amazing opportunity that was my first play that I’ve ever been in but it really pulled me into the theater world,” he explained. “It showed me how much love I have for all forms of acting. I helped produce a friend’s short film recently, and I look forward to every opportunity that I get to act.”
He continued: “You get a passion and you can’t get rid of it to continue to act and continue to participate in creating in any way, shape or form. I would love more than anything to be an actor for the rest of my life. But I’m a huge Star Wars fanatic so I would really do anything [in that universe]. And I would love to try out a sitcom.”
Blue Bloods is streaming on Paramount+.
Share this:
Like this:
LikeLoading…
Discover more from The Maravi Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
“Since she wants to be petty and be an a**hole, I think I am just going to go ahead and say that grandpa Bret likes to drink her piss like it is dirty soda,” Jessi said in an Instagram Story video on November 25. “He gulps it down like water. And that is what ‘Fruity Pebbles’ means.”
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight published on Thursday, December 4, Demi confessed that Jessi outing her and Bret made things a little awkward around the dinner table at Thanksgiving.
“It’s an awkward topic, not gonna lie,” Demi told the outlet. “I had to go to Thanksgiving the next day. It was not ideal.”
Despite her initial shock at Jessi going public with the couple’s sex act, Demi said she and Bret decided to lean into the controversy.
“Fruity Pebbles has been a topic that we’ve all teased and talked about for so long and as much as it was a private moment, and we never planned on sharing this ourselves, we have nothing else left to do other than just own it and have fun with it,” Demi said.
She continued, “I think I just thought that it’s out there and it’s going to be talked about … I was able to handle the comments and everything with just more levity, which was nice.”
Disney/Pamela Littky (2)
Demi and Jessi fell out during season 2 of Mormon Wives, with their relationship only deteriorating further in season 3, which saw Jessi reveal her affair with Vanderpump Villa’s Marciano Brunette. Marciano also claimed he kissed Demi, which she has denied.
“There are things that people have seen on camera, there’s things that people haven’t seen, and I’m kind of at peace with it,” Demi said of her feud with Jessi. “Whereas, I do feel like Jessi does take a lot of time out of her life to make it a point to dislike me.”
The influencer said she hasn’t closed the door completely on her friendship with Jessi.
“On my end, 100 percent,” Demi responded when asked if there’s a chance of the two reconciling. “If Whitney[Leavitt] and Mikayla[Matthews] can become friends again, there’s hope for Demi and Jessi.”
“And at the end of the day, like, I never wish anyone ill will and I don’t want to ever see anyone fail or suffer. I want to see her do well and I hope she is doing well,” she added.
At the time of Jessi’s Fruity Pebbles revelation, Demi issued a statement via Instagram, writing, “What my husband and I did one time behind closed doors was a consensual and private experience in our marriage.”
“I won’t let a private act between my husband and I be a distraction from a serious act that I did not consent to,” she added, referring to her allegations that Marciano touched her without consent.
Share this:
Like this:
LikeLoading…
Discover more from The Maravi Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
“Selling the OC” star Tyler Stanaland just popped up married, announcing his elopement — and his former flame Alex Hall tells us she’s happy for him … she just hopes he’s changed. Alex told TMZ … “I genuinely want nothing but the best for him…
Share this:
Like this:
LikeLoading…
Discover more from The Maravi Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Singer Ray J comes from a family filled with musicians and performers, including his father and his sister, Brandy.
Ray J released his debut single “Let It Go” in 1997, but his family’s history in the music industry dates back to at least the 1970s, when his father Willie Norwood joined The Composers. His mother, Sonja, has worked as the manager for both Ray J and Brandy since they began their own music careers.
Ray J has created his own family with estranged wife Princess Love, who he married in 2016. The pair welcomed daughter Melody in 2018 and son Epik in 2020. In May 2020, the pair announced they were separating, and have since rescinded and then re-filed for divorce three more times. They are currently still married.
In November 2025, the “One Wish” singer was arrested after he allegedly pulled a gun on his estranged wife during an argument on Thanksgiving Day.
Video footage from the livestream allegedly showed Ray J saying, “Y’all wanna drive drunk? Y’all wanna drive drunk? Drive drunk. Drive drunk, Princess,” before Love interjects, “Ray, you just pointed a gun–.”
“Drive drunk, princess. Go ahead,” Ray J also appeared to say. “You wanna take my kids? You and your drunk cousin? Cuz y’all drunk at the alcoholics? Take my kids then, go ahead. Who’s gonna drive? Tony, he’s been drinking too.”
Keep scrolling to learn more about Ray J’s relationships with his family, including Love and their two children.
Willie Norwood
Willie NorwoodParas Griffin/Getty Images for BMI
Ray J’s father Willie is a singer, coach and teacher. As shared via Kovocals, Willie joined the singing group The Composers in the 1970s. The band made the decision to move to Hollywood after opening for Chaka Khan & Rufus, and Willie lived there with his family until he and wife Sonja decided to move back to Mississippi.
Willie took the family back to California to serve as a minister of music and become a music coach. He put together Brandy’s first tour and released his own album, Bout It, in 2001.
Willie also appeared on Brandy and Ray J’s reality series, Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business. The series aired on VH1 for two seasons, from April 2010 to February 2011.
Sonja B. Norwood
Sonja NorwoodJonathan Leibson/Getty Images for WE tv
Sonja has worked as Brandy and Ray J’s manager throughout their music careers, and is also the CEO of the family’s management company, Norwood & Norwood. As shared on her website, Sonja cut her career at H&R block short to focus on her children’s musical pursuits. This allowed her to help Brandy and Ray J navigate music contracts, Brandy’s foray into music and beauty deals and running the Norwood Kids Foundation.
“Being Black, a woman, a mom, and coming into this industry in the `90s was not easy,” she says on her site. “When I’m teaching, it’s important for people to understand the practices of the entertainment industry. I appreciate all of the good and bad attitudes, the no’s and yes challenges and deceptions that came my way. They have made me the business person I am today. I have earned my way – fearless, confident, and passionate about who I am and how I can change things. I want up-and-coming mom managers and females especially to know that if they are willing to put in the work to not only master their craft but also to wholly understand who they are as a person, establish boundaries and keep God first – they can accomplish anything.”
Brandy Norwood
Brandy NorwoodDerek White/Getty Images
Brandy is Ray J’s older sister, known to audiences around the world as a singer and actress. She rose to fame after securing a role on the ABC series Thea, which aired from September 1983 to February 1984, but her breakthrough moment came with the release of her first self-titled album in September 1984.
Brandy led the cast of Moesha in 1996, and the series became a hit soon after its debut. Her acting career spawned several more roles, including in the 1997 movie Cinderella.
The release of her follow-up album Never Say Never in 1998 introduced Brandy to wider audiences after the single “The Boy is Mine” hit number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Brandy has continued to act and sing in the years that followed.
Sy’Rai Smith
Sy’Rai SmithBryan Bedder/Getty Images for Lifetime
Sy’Rai is the daughter of Brandy and producer Robert Smith. She made her debut as a singer on her mom’s 2020 record B7 and released her own song, “On My Own” in 2023. She is also the host of the “I Shouldn’t Have Said That” podcast.
Princess Love
Princess LoveUnique Nicole/Getty Images
Ray J and Princess Love married in August 2016, and have since welcomed two children together. The pair’s relationship has been tumultuous, and they have filed for divorce several times (in May 2020, September 2020, October 2021 and most recently in February 2024).
“After much reflection, discussion, and counseling, we have come to the difficult realization that our paths have diverged, and it is in the best interest of both of us to part ways,” Love wrote in a since-deleted post shared via Instagram in February 2024. “We want to reassure you that this decision was made thoughtfully and with mutual respect and consideration for each other’s well-being. While our relationship as spouses may be coming to an end, we remain committed to co-parenting our children and maintaining a positive and supportive family dynamic.”
Princess was a cast member on seasons 3 through 6 of Love & Hip Hop: Miami (the series aired from 2014 to 2019) and frequently documents her cooking on Instagram.
Ray J Familyesse Grant/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures
Ray J and Love welcomed their first child together on May 23, 2018. Soon after her birth, Ray J shared a video of himself with Melody with OK! Magazine, telling the outlet that he and Love were considering a move to London with their daughter.
“I’m here with the love of my life,” he said in the video. “I love you. I’ll always be there for you. You’ll never have to want for nothing, baby.”
He added of the potential move, “I like the people, the opportunities, and the values are a little different. I’ve been in Hollywood so long, I know what it comes with, I want my daughter to have a peaceful, happy life. I want to be consistent in being there for the baby. We’d love to move in the next year and a half.”
Epik Ray Norwood
Love and Ray J’s son Epik joined the family on December 30, 2019.
Share this:
Like this:
LikeLoading…
Discover more from The Maravi Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.