Bisexual Argentine hockey player Nicolás Keenan went to the Olympics while hiding his relationship with a man, just like Scott Hunter in the popular gay hockey romance Heated Rivalry.
The professional field hockey star who is engaged to Dutch politician Rob Jetten is opening up about the similarities between his experience of living the life of a famous athlete while being closeted and the love story shown in Heated Rivalry.
In a new interview, Keenan told Pink News that he “really related” to the third episode of the show when New York Admirals captain Scott Hunter falls in love with smoothie barista Kip Grady, except that Keenan was keeping his love affair with a high-profile politician hidden from the public.
Watching Heated Rivalry made Keenan realize what he must have put Jetten — who is now the potential upcoming Prime Minister of the Netherlands — through when he was trying to keep his sexuality a secret.
“I was a closeted professional hockey player, so for me it was really hard,” Keenan said. “I felt really ashamed watching the show that I could put someone in that situation.”
Much like Scott’s story in the show, Keenan also had to stay in the closet while competing on a national stage at the Olympics.
“Poor guy, he was watching my games on TV for quite a long time before actually coming to one of my games,” he said. “I did a full Olympic cycle being closeted.”
Keenan said that the experience was so hard, he knew he “couldn’t go through another one” where he couldn’t “be myself.”
Feeling pressured to keep his love life with another man a secret meant that his relationship hadn’t always been easy, but it was Jetten who gave him the “confidence” to finally come out.
“The moment I met Rob, it really felt like he was the right person to shout to the world, ‘OK, I’m in love with this guy,’” Keenan said. “So actually he gave me the trust and the confidence to really go outside and say, ‘OK, I’m a hockey player, and I’m in love with this guy as well.'”
