At BookCon 2026, Heated Rivalry author Rachel Reid and show creator Jacob Tierney sit down to talk about instant chemistry and whats next for the show
The first panel at BookCon drew lines of fans an hour before its start. Fans have shown up in style. I spotted dozens of iterations of t-shirts with the faces of actors Hudson Williams and Connor Storie plastered on them. Boston Raiders, Montreal Metros, and New York Admirals jerseys are in abundance, too. 3,000 fans are here, waiting to see Rachel Reid and Jacob Tierney in conversation for the first time. But while this may be the first public conversation between the Heated Rivalry author and show creator on a grand stage, it's clear that these two have been in perfect sync since their first Zoom call. Moderated by former Teen Vogue editor-in-chief Versha Sharma, Reid and Tierney took to the stage at BookCon for a session called "Game Changing TV: Heated Rivalry." The conversations spanned across their entire collaboration, from their very first DM to the music that makes the show, to how their lives have changed since the show aired. Tierney, whose knack for come...