In 1978, Cheryl Bradshaw appeared on the matchmaking show The Dating Game, seeking love. She would later discover that the man she selected for a date—Rodney Alcala—was actually a notorious ser!al k!ller. Recently surfaced footage captures the chilling moment she chose Alcala, who would later be known as ‘The Dating Game K!ller.’
During his TV appearance, Rodney Alcala was in the middle of a k!lling spree, having already r*ped, ass*ulted, and m*rdered multiple victims. In 1978, he participated in The Dating Game, ultimately winning a date with Bradshaw.
During the episode, Bradshaw interviewed three hidden bachelors through a questioning session. At the end, she picked ‘bachelor number one’—Alcala—for an all-expenses-paid date. As she made her choice, the audience applauded, and Alcala grinned widely.
The two met face-to-face and embraced, with plans to visit a tennis court and a theme park. However, a disturbing encounter backstage led Bradshaw to cancel the date with Alcala, possibly saving her from becoming his next target.
“I started to feel ill,” she told the Sydney Telegraph in 2012. “He was acting really creepy. I turned down his offer. I didn’t want to see him again.” She reportedly contacted producer Ellen Metzger, expressing discomfort: “There’s weird vibes that are coming off of him. He’s very strange. I am not comfortable. Is that going to be a problem?” Metzger agreed to cancel the date.
Following his appearance on The Dating Game, Alcala committed at least three more m*rders before being arrested on July 24, 1979, and sentenced to de*th.
Alcala died of natural causes in 2021, 42 years to the day after his arrest, and has since been linked to approximately 130 other cold cases.
Netflix’s new true crime thriller Woman of the Hour, released on October 18, tells the story of Alcala’s victims and their lives, which he brvtally ended.
Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com described the film as “a confidently made thriller that’s not just a true crime story but an unpacking of systemic misogyny and how it encourages violence.”