CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live has become an annual event for gay pop culture fans, and this year Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper delivered exactly the kind of moment the internet loves.
During their live broadcast from Times Square, the longtime friends and co-hosts repeatedly referenced the gay hockey drama Heated Rivalry, much to the delight of viewers.
The steamy cultural phenomenon kept coming up throughout the night as Cohen teased Cooper and joked about which characters they would play.
The banter included playful speculation about who would be Ilya and who would be Shane, turning a niche fandom favorite into a mainstream New Year’s Eve joke.
Cohen leaned fully into the bit, while Cooper attempted to maintain a sense of journalistic composure that slowly unraveled as the night went on (and said he’d rather be Kip 😂).
The references were not limited to a single aside, but became a recurring thread woven through the broadcast.
At one point, the conversation expanded to include guests, turning Heated Rivalry into an unexpected cultural touchstone on live television.
The moment stood out because it highlighted how far queer storytelling has traveled from niche spaces into casual, primetime conversation.
What once might have been considered too specific or too gay for a mainstream broadcast was treated as shared pop culture shorthand.
For longtime fans of the duo, the exchange felt like classic Andy and Anderson energy.
Their friendship, built on mutual respect and years of on-air chemistry, has long been a defining feature of CNN’s New Year’s Eve coverage.
Adding a gay romance series into the mix only amplified what viewers already love about the broadcast.
The moment also underscored Heated Rivalry’s growing cultural footprint beyond its original audience.
Being referenced repeatedly on live national television marked a new level of visibility for the series.
For queer viewers, it was one of those blink-and-you-miss-it moments that still feels meaningful.
No speeches were made and no statements were issued.
Instead, it was just two friends joking on live TV and casually affirming that gay stories belong in the mix.
As New Year’s Eve moments go, it was funny, a little chaotic, and unmistakably on brand.
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