Heated Rivalry Inspires Real-Life Ice Hockey Pro To Come Out As Gay

Whether or not you’ve got round to watching it yet, you’ll still probably have Heated Rivalry on your radar thanks to its very public status as 2026’s first palpable TV hit – albeit a surprise one.

The series centres on two male professional ice hockey rivals who start a secret steamy relationship as they simultaneously tussle on the ice to be the best at their sport. 

Off the back of the show’s success, an American pro ice hockey player, Jesse Kortuem, has shared a heartfelt statement publicly coming out and crediting Heated Rivalry for “sparking” the desire to tell his story.

In a public post on his Facebook page, Kortuem explained that as a teenager, “the rink did not feel like a place where I could be all of me”.

He explained: “I felt I had to hide parts of myself for far too long. I loved the game, but I lived with a persistent fear. I wondered how I could be gay and still play such a tough and masculine sport.

“To my younger self, that identity could never be revealed. I did not think those two worlds could occupy the same person, let alone the same locker room. Coming out in the 2000s did not feel like an option, especially with so little positive representation in the media at the time and it would have been a social disaster at such a large high school.” 

Kortuem walked away from the sport when he was 17 “for a myriad of reasons” before rediscovering it as an adult, but still felt unable to be his authentic self and “fully out” to his adult ice hockey peers. 

“On the outside, I was still a top-tier player,” he explained. “On the inside, I was still that kid in Minnesota hiding.

“Like many closeted athletes, revealing who I truly was to my team would change everything in an instant, their opinion of me, could bring negative attention to the team with the ‘gay player’, so I never took the chance.”

Things reached a head in 2017 when Kortuem says he was prepared to “remain a closeted player in straight leagues for good, or even worse, hang up the skates forever” after years of struggling to reconcile the two halves of his life.

A “paradigm shift” came when the player signed up to a gay sports tournament and met men just like him. 

“From that moment forward, my life has never been the same,” Kortuem wrote before encouraging athletes who “are still in the closet or struggling to find their way”. 

“I want you to know that there is hope and you’re not alone,” he said. “There is a life and a deep happiness waiting for you on your path. You will get through this, and it is going to be okay.” 

Heated Rivalry quickly became the Canadian streamer Crave’s top original series on record, bumping up its viewership by nearly 400% since its premiere in November.

Since then, it’s also landed a spot in US platform HBO Max’s top five scripted debuts of 2025, and with a second and third series already in the pipeline it’s set to remain a fixture on our screens for the next few years.

Help and support:

• London Lesbian & Gay switchboard (LLGS) is a free confidential support & information helpline for LGBT communities throughout the UK | 0300 330 0630
• Manchester Lesbian and Gay Switchboard is a free support, information and referral service for the Manchester and North-West area | 0161 235 8000
• Stonewall for more information on other LGBT services and helplines | 08000 502020