Every top-level TV exec has a story of the one that got away and Fremantle‘s Jens Richter is no exception.

Fremantle’s CEO of International and Commercial yesterday admitted he had turned down the chance to distribute Heated Rivalry well before the Canadian series had become the global phenomenon it is today. He had been alerted to the Bell Media gay hockey drama by his Canadian bureau, but wasn’t convinced.

During a keynote interview at NEM Dubrovnik, Richter responded to a question about business regrets by saying: “We got pitched Heated Rivalry for distribution and I said ‘no.’ That turned into the biggest hit in the U.S. market. I just didn’t see that.”

There were a few gasps in the room upon the admission, but Richter saw the funny side, joking that he was “reminded about it on a regular basis,” and saying: “All of us do make bad decisions in television – it’s a hits business and a flops business.”

“Luckily, I’ve been forgiven,” he added, noting that Fremantle soon after landed another season of Sullivan’s Crossing with Bell, the Canadian commissioner behind the Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie-fronted drama.

Richter is by no means the only exec who passed on Heated Rivalry, as numerous stories about Bell’s struggles to get the show made have surfaced over recent months, but is perhaps one of the few to have talked aboout it publicly.

Ultimately, Bell financed the show itself and international distribution on Heated Rivalry went to Sphere Abacus, the Bell-owned sales house. Sphere would soonwrap up big-ticket deals with HBO Max in the U.S., Europe, Australia and Asia, Sky in the UK and several other major broadcasters. The drama, about a pair of hockey rivals who are secretly lovers, broke out over the 2025 festive period and has become one of the most-talked about TV shows out there.

Elsewhere in his keynote, Richter – who has held CEO posts at Got Talent producer Fremantle since January 2015 – revealed how the upcoming Baywatch reboot had factored in social media to casting.

A new 12-part series from Matt Nix, based on the iconic original lifeguards drama from the 1980s and 1990s is in the works at Fox, with Fremantle co-producing alongside the U.S. broadcaster.

The show will star Stephen Amell as Hobie Buchannon and Shay Mitchell as Trina, but has also cast several social media stars such as Livvy Dunne and Noah Beck, who have around 13 million and 41 million followers, respectively.

“Some of the casting has been done with the perspective of the social media following,” he said. “How many millions of followers do they have in their markets around the world? When Bell launched the latest season of Sullivan’s Crossing, Chad Michael Murray went out and tweeted.”

NEM Dubrovnik runs until Thursday, with execs from ITV Studios, Paramount, Disney and BBC Studios among those taking to the stage.

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