Irish radio listener goes viral after sharing real-life Heated Rivalry love story with Gaelic football rival

A letter sent to an Irish radio station, inspired by the hit show Heated Rivalry, has gone viral after a listener wrote in about his relationship with a Gaelic football player when he was in his early 20s.

The letter was read by Brendan O’Connor on RTÉ Radio 1, where the writer told the story of his transformation from match rivals to off-pitch lovers, similar to the characters Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov in the Crave series.

“I am a successful, reasonably wealthy, married man with two adult children,” the anonymous listener in his 50s began. “But sometimes I find myself lost in emotion.”

“We met a few times on the pitch on opposite sides,” – the writer sets the tone for his Heated Rivalry love story

Reminiscing, the writer took us back to his young adult years as a 22-year-old football player: “Way back, I played soccer and Gaelic football and a friend at the time played Gaelic football for an opposing club. We met a few times on the pitch on opposite sides, both determined to do the best for our teams.”

In a moment similar to a scene out of Netflix’s Heartstopper, the listener continued: “In one particular match, we both went after the ball, and he slipped, losing the ball. As I took up the tackle passing him, he said, just loud enough, ‘Go for it.’ The slip was deliberate, but well covered.”

After the match in the clubhouse, the rival player bought the letter writer a drink and asked what he would fancy: “My reply was, ‘I fancy you actually,’” wrote the contributor.

“He leaned across and kissed me on the side of my face” – the writer and his Gaelic football rival began their secret love affair

“There was no look of surprise, no stand back, no blush. He asked for a lift home, which I gave, and as he got out of the car, he leaned across and kissed me on the side of my face and said, ‘See you soon, I hope,’” he continued.

This began a two-and-a-half-year affair, conducted mainly across hotel rooms – making the Heated Rivalry parallels even more apparent.

In the gay hockey series, the show covers an eight-year span in the lives of hockey players Shane and Ilya, whose relationship also revolves around hotel rooms between matches.

“Just like in Heated Rivalry, we stayed distant” – the writer drew on comparisons between his love affair and the Heated Rivalry series

“Just like in Heated Rivalry, we stayed distant except for an after-match drink with the teams and left separately to meet later,” the letter continued. “Staying in the same room in a hotel was not unusual for guys travelling together.”

Though in a heartbreaking moment, the writer reveals that, unlike Shane and Ilya’s relationship, his own did not last.

“We were very, very good friends to each other privately while still being seen as opposition players by our teammates. Then, after 2.5 years of happiness, comfortable conversations and intimacy, he disappeared from my life,” he wrote.

“I think about him every single day since, and I still love him” – despite being married with children, the writer still loves his lost romance

“I have not seen or heard from him in all that time. But guess what? I think about him every single day since, and I still love him, even though we never said it to each other,” the writer exclaimed.

He misses his former lover “every single day,” from hugs, a manly embrace, and the ability to be intimate: “Regardless of the sex angle.”

“As I write this, I’m getting emotional, and I’ve no one to share this with. So I would say to anyone who is watching Heated Rivalry, ignore the sex, see and feel the intimacy, and listen to the dialogue,” he said, drawing on the multiple, highly praised sex scenes in Jacob Tierney’s series.

“I still have difficulty 30 years later. He could find me again” – the writer hopes to meet his former lover again

“Feel the pain of the characters as their relationship develops, and feel the good pain, which comes on the realisation that the attraction that was there initially is no real love, concern, and a deep protective instinct. See the transition to the realisation that they really love each other,” he said.

The writer still holds hope that, like Shane and Ilya, he and his former lover might meet again. After all, if Hudson William’s and Connor Storrie’s characters can do it over eight years, so could he.

“I still have difficulty 30 years later. He could find me again. I’m confident of that. I don’t know if it will ever happen, but hope springs eternal.”