Jacob Tierney teases 'Heated Rivalry' Season 2 with this Rachel Reid romance

NEW YORK – Much to the disappointment of fans, “Heated Rivalry” starsHudson WilliamsandConnor Storriedid not join the show’s panel at BookCon. But they did get a few Season 2 insights.

At the first in-person BookCon in seven years, approximately 3,000 fans of the steamy hockey romance greeted author Rachel Reid and show creatorJacob Tierneywith ear-splitting screams on April 18. Many sported shirts that read “I’m comingto the cottage” and “Ask me about our lord and savior Ilya Rozanov.”

The two extra chairs on the stage caused a stir on social media and in-person ahead of the talk. Would Williams and Storrie make a surprise appearance? They did not, though the show's stars did send in questions for Reid and Tierney. Storrie’s was a voice memo recording played for the crowd, a consolation prize. The extra chairs were simply the default setup for the weekend, BookCon organizers told USA TODAY.

Rachel Reid, Jacob Tierney tease ‘Heated Rivalry’ Season 2

“Heated Rivalry” sSeason 2 will largely be based on “The Long Game,” set 10 years later. But, like Scott and Kip’s “Game Changer” storyline in Season 1, another couple will also get airtime. Reid and Tierney teased that the second season will also include“Role Model,”a grumpy-sunshine romance between Troy Barrett, a recently traded player, and Harris Drover, the team’s chipper social media manager.

“Troy's a really damaged guy, and Troy is quite damaged on the show. I would say we're digging into that harder, because that's what's interesting and that's all there in those books,” Tierney said. “That's why it's such a fertile playground for me as a creator to have fun.”

He added, “But Ilya and Shane are the heartbeat of this series, of my show. It's always going to be about Ilya and Shane.”

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Though he told Deadline in a recent interview that he was weighing splitting “The Long Game” into two seasons, he kept mum when asked about it on the panel.

“It really is different. The challenge of it is from an adaptation point of view is that you're in much more serious territory. There's still lots of flirting and there's lots of sex. (But) it’s like this kind of danger, this kind of hotel room, adolescent sex stuff is largely gone. And so it presents really new challenges.” Tierney said. “‘The Long Game’ is an emotionally sophisticated book that takes this couple seriously.”

The 'whole world seems to care' about Ilya and Shane

While fans await a release date and casting decisions for Season 2 (evenJill Biden threw her hat in the ring), they at least know Reid’s new novel, “Unrivaled,”will be out June 1, 2027.Shane and Ilya’s third story was initially set for aSeptember publication date, but Reid pushed it back because of how overwhelming the last few months have been.

“I have a little bit of regret deciding to write a book at the same time, but I am excited,” Reid said on the panel. “I'm in a place where the whole world seems to care about what happens next to these characters or has thoughts about them. … But I'm still determined to try to just stick to what I have always done when I was writing, just kind of pretend that I'm just writing for me and I hope other people like it.”

Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY’s Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find heron Instagram, subscribe to our weeklyBooks newsletteror tell her what you’re reading atcmulroy@usatoday.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:'Heated Rivalry' creator gives Season 2 teaser at BookCon

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April 20, 2026

Jacob Tierney teases 'Heated Rivalry' Season 2 with this Rachel Reid romance

NEW YORK – Much to the disappointment of fans, “Heated Rivalry” starsHudson WilliamsandConnor Storriedid not join the show’s panel at B...

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Senior British official resigns over Mandelson appointment, but Starmer insists he won't go

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has no plans to resign over revelations that hisscandal-tainted pickfor U.K. ambassador to Washington was appointed despite failing security checks, officials said Friday.

Britain Politics

Starmer says he was unaware that the Foreign Office had overruled the recommendation of security officials in early 2025 not to givePeter Mandelsonthe job. Many considered Mandelson a risky appointment because of his past friendship with convicted sex offenderJeffrey Epstein.

The top Foreign Office civil servant, Olly Robbins, took the fall for the decision and resigned late Thursday. Starmer is due to make a statement to Parliament on the issue on Monday.

That’s unlikely to end the danger to the prime minister over his fateful decision to appoint Mandelson, a trade expert and elder statesman of the governing Labour Party, as envoy to the Trump administration. It was a calculated risk that backfired spectacularly, and could bring down the prime minister.

Opposition politicians expressed disbelief that Starmer could have been unaware Mandelson had failed security vetting. Starmer’s office said he only found out this week.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, said Friday that “the recommendation was to not appoint Peter Mandelson to the role,” and that the Foreign Office ignored it. He said that was “astonishing,” but within the rules.

He said no government minister had been told of the security assessment.

Opposition Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said claims the prime minister didn’t know were “completely preposterous.”

“This story does not stack up. The prime minister is taking us for fools,” she told the BBC. “All roads lead to a resignation.”

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Ed Davey, the leader of the centrist Liberal Democrats, said Starmer “must go” if he misled Parliament and lied to the British public.

Starmer has repeatedly insisted that “due process” was followed in the appointment, which was announced in December 2024. Mandelson took up the Washington post in February 2025, after undergoing security vetting.

But documents released by the government in March, after being forced to by Parliament, showed Starmer ignored red flags raised by his staff. He was warned that Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein, whodied in prison in 2019, exposed the government to “reputational risk.”

Starmer firedMandelsonin September 2025 after evidence emerged that he had lied about the extent of his links to Epstein.

Starmer’s premiership faced its biggest crisis in February after therelease of millions of pages of Epstein-related documentsby the U.S. Department of Justice showed the closeness of Mandelson’s relationship with the financier, even after Epstein’s conviction in 2008 for sexual offenses involving a minor.

Emails between the men suggested Mandelson had passed on sensitive — and potentially market-moving — government information to the disgraced financier in 2009, when he was a member of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government.

British police subsequently launched a criminal probe andsearched Mandelson’s two housesin London and western England. Mandelson wasarrested on Feb. 23on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

He has been released without bail conditions as the police investigation continues. Mandelson has previously denied wrongdoing andhasn’t been charged. He does not face allegations of sexual misconduct.

Starmer hasapologizedto the British public and to Epstein’s victims for believing what he has termed “Mandelson’s lies.”

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April 20, 2026

Senior British official resigns over Mandelson appointment, but Starmer insists he won't go

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has no plans to resign over revelations that hisscandal-tainted pickfor U.K. ambassad...

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Man kills 8 children and shoots his wife and another woman in Shreveport, Louisiana

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A man killed eight children, including seven of his own, and shot two women in anattack in a Shreveport, Louisiana, neighborhood that was the nation's deadliest shooting in more than two years, authorities said.

Mass Shooting Louisiana

At a news conference outside the residence where one of the shootings occurred early Sunday, officials appeared stunned, requesting patience and prayers from the community.

“This is a tragic situation — maybe the worst tragic situation we’ve ever had,” said Tom Arceneaux, mayor of the city in northwestern Louisiana.

Mourners laid flowers outside the single-story house on 79th Street, and people lit candles for the victims at an evening prayer vigil in a nearby parking lot.

“It just makes you take your children and hug them and hold them and tell them how much you love them,” said Kimberlin Jackson, who was at the vigil.

The violence started before sunrise Sunday

Police said the man shot a woman at one home in the neighborhood south of downtown then drove to the second location.

Seven children were killed inside the second house, and one was found dead on the roof after apparently trying to escape, police spokesperson Chris Bordelon said. Another child jumped off the roof and was expected to survive after being taken to a hospital.

State Rep. Tammy Phelps said some children tried to get away through the back door. “I can’t even imagine what the police officers, first responders actually dealt with when they got here today,” she said at a news conference.

“I just don’t know what to say, my heart is just taken aback,” Shreveport Police Chief Wayne Smith said.

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The children who were killed were 3 to 11 years old. They were three boys and five girls, according to the Caddo Parish Coroner’s office.

All the children were “happy kids, very friendly, very sweet," said Crystal Brown, who is a cousin of one of the women who were shot.

The gunman died after a police pursuit

The gunman, identified as 31-year-old Shamar Elkins, died after a police pursuit that ended with officers firing on him, according to Bordelon. Authorities did not say what may have set off the violence but Bordelon said detectives were confident the shooting was “entirely a domestic incident.”

Elkins had been arrested in a 2019 firearms case, but Bordelon said officials were not aware of any other domestic violence issues.

Elkins and his wife were in the middle of separating and were due in court Monday, according to Brown. She said the couple had been arguing about the separation before the shooting.

“He murdered his children,” Brown said. “He shot his wife.”

Elkins had four children with his wife and three children with another woman who lived close by and was also shot, according to Brown. All the children were together at one house, she said.

The shooting in Shreveport, a city of about 180,000 residents, was the deadliest in the U.S. since January 2024, when eight people were killedin a Chicago suburb, according toa databasemaintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University.

Seewer reported from Toledo, Ohio. Contributing were Associated Press reporters Jake Offenhartz in New York, Jeff Martin in Atlanta, Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis, Terry Tang in Phoenix and Christopher Weber in Los Angeles.

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April 19, 2026

Man kills 8 children and shoots his wife and another woman in Shreveport, Louisiana

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A man killed eight children, including seven of his own, and shot two women in anattack in a Shreveport, Louisia...

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Noah Wyle was 'very late' in auditioning for “ER” and got the job 'at the last minute,' producer John Wells recalls

ER producer John Wells remembered in a new interview that Noah Wyle almost missed out on his big role on the show.

Key Points

• Wells recalled that Wyle came in 'very late' but wowed everyone with the way he kept changing up his approach.

• Wells is now an executive producer on HBO's 'The Pitt,' on which Wyle stars.

Noah Wylewas working with diners not patients — at least people pretending to be patients — just before he landed that life-changing role onER.

Executive producerJohn Wellsrecalls that Wyle, who portrayed Dr. John Carter on theNBCmedical drama that ran from 1994 to 2009, nearly missed out.

He "came in kind of later," when another actor had almost won the role.

"There was a wonderful actor, who goes unnamed, and has gone on to do very well," Wells said Thursday on theA Lot Morepodcast fromWarner Bros.TV. "But we thought he was in the part, and [Wyle] came in very late."

Wells explained that Wyle had wowed the decision-makers.

"Brought him back two or three times, and he was different every time and better every time, and had new ideas," Wells remembered. "And I said, 'Oh, there's somebody who's really an actor.' He ended up getting the job at the last minute. He was 22, I think at the time, and he was waiting tables in West Hollywood."

Wells served as the head writer, show runner and executive producer ofER. Wyle was a cast member for the first 11 seasons and appeared on several later episodes.

The casting appeared to have been as big of a win as the show was for all involved.

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He was Emmy-nominated five years in a row, from 1995 to 1999, for his work.

It wasn't until he reunited Wells on another TV favorite, HBO'sThe Pitt, that he won a statuette. Wyle was named Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2025 for his portrayal of Dr. Robby Ravinovitch. (He also won as a producer when the show was named Outstanding Drama Series in its freshman season.)

Get your daily dose of entertainment news, celebrity updates, and what to watch with ourEW Dispatch newsletter.

Wells is an executive producer who has also directed a few episodes of the series that captures the chaos that goes on inside a medical ward.

"That relationship has now gone on for my entire professional career, basically, and his," Well said. "I mean, it's a little scary because I used to look at [the] monitor and see a 22-year-old looking back at me. I look in the monitor now and I see a very handsome 54-year-old man."

The last episode of the show's second season dropped Thursday. The series has already been renewed for a third.

Watch Wells' full conversation above.

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

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Noah Wyle was 'very late' in auditioning for “ER” and got the job 'at the last minute,' producer John Wells recalls

ER producer John Wells remembered in a new interview that Noah Wyle almost missed out on his big role on the show. Key Points ...

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Cher Files for Conservatorship of 'Gravely Disabled' Son Elijah Blue Allman Again amid Hospitalization Following Arrests

Cher has filed for conservatorship of her son Elijah Blue Allman again, citing severe mental health and addiction issues

NEED TO KNOW

• Court documents obtained by PEOPLE allege Allman is "gravely disabled" and unable to manage his finances or avoid dangerous situations

• Allman is in a psychiatric hospital after his recent arrests and faces criminal charges in New Hampshire

Cherhas filed for conservatorship of her sonElijah Blue Allmanagain following his arrests earlier this year.

The 79-year-old "Believe" icon filed a petition earlier this week in Los Angeles Superior Court, according to documents obtained by PEOPLE, to appoint a temporary conservator of the 49-year-old "gravely disabled" and allegedly drug-dependent Allman's estate.

Cher previouslyfiled for a temporary conservatorshipover her son's estate in December 2023 and requested herself as the sole conservator. This time, she requested fiduciary Jason Rubin fill the position.

The new filing claims Allman's life "has significantly deteriorated" since the last conservatorship petition was filed.

The documents claim Allman is "currently in custody in the State of New Hampshire in a locked psychiatric hospital in an attempt to restore him to competency to face criminal charges in two cases across two New Hampshire counties for: felony burglary criminal mischief, simple assault, criminal trespass and breach of bail, but that is just the current set of problems."

Cher alleges Allman "has no concept of money" and "is unable to manage his financial resources and is unable to withstand fraud or undue influence" due to his "severe mental health and addiction issues."

The documents find Cher claiming Allman "spends any money he gets immediately," nearly always on "drugs, expensive hotels and limousine transportation."

The Grammy winner alleges in the documents that Allman hasn't paid "any income taxes," owing $200,000, and did not appear in court after his estranged wife Marieangela Kingordered him to pay spousal support. Cher also claims Allman owed $18,000 to "a drug dealer who tracked him down," leading him to borrow money from a friend "to avoid being harmed."

The documents allege Allman doesn't have an "awareness of consequences for the damage he caused at various Airbnbs where he had been staying; were it not for his friends and family cleaning up the financial and physical messes he made at those residences, he would have even more judgments against him." A recent Airbnb stay allegedly led to Allman owing $50,000.

"Elijah has no ability to manage money, and any dollar he receives from his father’s trust (his only source of income) is immediately squandered without regard for his liabilities or well-being," reads the documents, referencing an alleged annual $120,000 payment Allman receives via Cher's ex-husband Gregg Allman's trust.

Cher claims there's "a clear pattern in Elijah’s behavior," as he "receives his trust distribution" and subsequently "checks into a hotel, usually the Chateau Marmont, buys and does drugs until he runs out of money, ends up in the hospital or overdoses."

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"Based on this pattern, if Elijah were to receive his trust distribution, he will use it buy drugs," Cher claims, noting that Allman's actions have led to "thousands of dollars in damages from cigarette burns in the rugs, beds, dressers, broken windows [and] walls." She alleges he's "been thrown out of a total of 18 hotels because he has made guests feel uncomfortable [by] screaming obscenities and acting erratically."

Furthermore, Cher alleges Allman's been "exhibiting hyper-sexual behavior" and once "aggressively" pushed sexual relations onto a young maid at a hotel.

Allman also once allegedly "was found in the middle of traffic passed out in his car. Emergency services responded and transported him to the hospital, where he was administered Narcan," claims his mom in the documents.

Additionally, Cher claims Allman has "caused grease fires while cooking after zoning out and forgetting that food was on the stove" multiple times. She alleges his "situation has become dire on multiple fronts" due to his "severely deteriorated" mental health and "terrible" financial situation, while his "drug dependency is at its worst."

The "If I Could Turn Back Time" musician says Allman is "gravely disabled" and argues a conservatorship over his person is "appropriate" when he returns to California. [Hislatest arrest in Marchoccurred in Windham, N.H.]

Devon Allman, half-brother of Elijah, wrote to the court as well with his own "opinion" about his condition, alleging Elijah "is currently a danger to himself and unable to manage his life and any funds that would become available to him."

"My recent visit to check in on him brought me unfortunate and profound sadness that took weeks of my life to process. His condition, both physical and mental, was appalling and delusional, respectively," continued Devon, 53. He also recalls having "to negotiate with a heroin dealer for a five-figure sum of drug debts" in a "very difficult" situation.

A rep for Cher did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Cher previouslydismissed her petition for conservatorshipin September 2024 after reaching a private agreement.

Last month, Elijah was arrested after police responded to a report of a residential break-in involving forced entry, according to a press release obtained by PEOPLE. The arrest came days after hewas arrested in the nearby city of Concord and taken into custodyafter he allegedly caused a disturbance at an elite prep school, the Concord Police Department (CPD) confirmed to PEOPLE at the time.

Elijah is due in court for the Concord case on Monday, April 20, and again for the Windham case on Wednesday, April 22. A hearing about the new conservatorship filing is set for Friday, April 24.

Read the original article onPeople

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April 19, 2026

Cher Files for Conservatorship of 'Gravely Disabled' Son Elijah Blue Allman Again amid Hospitalization Following Arrests

Cher has filed for conservatorship of her son Elijah Blue Allman again, citing severe mental health and addiction issues NEED TO ...

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Nicole Kidman recalls being alone in Venice the night she learned her mother had died

Nicole Kidmanis opening up about the day she found out her mother had died.

The 58-year-old actress spoke at the live speaker series, HISTORYTalks 2026, which is organized by the History Channel, on Saturday about a number of things, including learning of her mother's death just prior to accepting the best actress award for "Babygirl" at the Venice Film Festival in September 2024.

"I’d won best actress at Venice Film Festival. This seems to be such a common theme through my life," she said, perThe Hollywood Reporter. "I was about to go on stage, and I found out my mother had died. I went right back to the room in Venice, got into bed and was completely devastated."

She recalled feeling as if she didn't know how she would be able to continue on without her mom, saying, she "was so much a part of my existence. The idea of being there at that particular moment was harrowing."

Reese Witherspoon's 50Th Birthday Party Draws A-list Crowd To Lainey Wilson's Nashville Bar

The "Big Little Lies" star went on to say that "the idea of being there at that particular moment was harrowing," and she began to take steps to leave Venice as soon as possible.

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"I remember getting into a boat in the canal, and literally at night trying to find my way to the airport, and then turning around and going, I can’t even do this," she said. "And then went back into the bed, and I was alone. My husband wasn’t there. My children weren’t there. I’d gone to win an award. What should have been a beautiful thing, ended up with that. But there is the contrast of life."

Having gone through this tragic experience alone, Kidman says she now tells people "that’s when I know I’m resilient," and "can survive pretty much anything."

Kidman's mother, Janelle, died in September 2024 at the age of 84.

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Ariana Grande Confesses Fame Left Her With 'Traumas' In Revealing Chat With Nicole Kidman

Two years after her mother's death, the Academy Award-winning actress shared with investigative journalist, Vicky Nguyen, as part of the private school's Silk Speaker Series, that she hasplans to become a death doula.

"As my mother was passing, she was lonely, and there was only so much the family could provide," Kidman said per theSan Francisco Chronicle. "Between my sister and I, we have so many children and our careers and our work, and wanting to take care of her because my father wasn’t in the world anymore, and that’s when I went, ‘I wish there was these people in the world that were there to sit impartially and just provide solace and care.’"

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Kidman shares two daughters — Sunday Rose, 17, and Faith Margaret, 15 — with her ex-husband, Keith Urban, while her sister, Antonia, has six kids.

The actress has spoken about her close bond with her mother many times over the years, telling theSydney Morning Heraldabout how her mom always pushed her to pursue her dreams, saying, "she carved her own path and wanted her daughters to have the same opportunity to carve their own paths."

"Mom didn’t necessarily get the career that she wanted, but she was determined that her daughters would have opportunities that were equal," Kidman added. "That’s given me my life. And she gave me my life, she and my dad."

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Kidman is following in her mother's footsteps as a supportive mom, as she is supporting her daughter, Sunday Rose, in her budding modeling career.

She made her runway debut atParis Fashion Weekin 2025, walking for Miu Miu.

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Original article source:Nicole Kidman recalls being alone in Venice the night she learned her mother had died

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April 18, 2026

Nicole Kidman recalls being alone in Venice the night she learned her mother had died

Nicole Kidmanis opening up about the day she found out her mother had died. The 58-year-old actress spoke at the live speaker seri...

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Sri Lanka's Energy Minister resigns

By Uditha Jayasinghe

COLOMBO, April 17 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody and ministry secretary Udayanga Hemapala resigned on ‌Friday following an outcry over coal imports for power ‌generation.

Jayakody stepped down to make way for investigations to be carried out into ​alleged imports of low-quality coal for Sri Lanka's only coal-fired power plant, according to a statement from the president's media office.

The resignations were handed over to Sri Lanka President Anura Kumara Dissanayake on ‌Friday morning.

Jayakody is ⁠the first high-profile cabinet minister to resign over corruption allegations and his move comes after he faced ⁠a no-confidence motion, which was defeated in parliament last week.

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Dissanayake has ordered a full-scale investigation into all coal imports for power generation ​dating back ​to 2009 and earlier acknowledged ​that the low-quality coal supply ‌has impacted the power generation of the state-run Lakvijaya Power Plant.

The power plant needs about 2.25 million metric tons of coal annually to supply about 40% of Sri Lanka's power needs, according to a special audit report released earlier this month.

Lower power ‌generation pushed Sri Lanka to order ​300,000 metric tons of emergency coal last ​month and utilise more ​diesel and furnace oil for thermal power to ‌bridge the shortfall.

Sri Lanka, which is ​recovering from a ​severe financial crisis that peaked four years ago, imports all its fuel. Since the start of the Middle East ​crisis, the island ‌nation rationed fuel and declared every Wednesday a public holiday ​to manage stocks.

(Reporting by Uditha Jayasinghe, writing by Tanvi ​Mehta; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

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April 18, 2026

Sri Lanka's Energy Minister resigns

By Uditha Jayasinghe COLOMBO, April 17 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka's Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody and ministry secretary Udayang...

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