Cheryl Bradshaw was a woman who listened to her gut and took responsibility for her life choices despite being born and raised in an era where many women hadn’t yet dared to.
While she was thrilled when producers picked her as a contestant for The Dating Game in 1978 she felt an eery sense of danger once she picked her date and met him off stage.
The popular television matchmaking show provided national exposure for the drama teacher, and since she had aspired to become an actress, this could be a great first step in getting recognized.
Playing her role as the game’s bachelorette to pick one of three eligible men, she flirtatiously and adding her own flare asked the scripted questions.
Playing her role as the game’s bachelorette to pick one of three eligible men, she flirtatiously and adding her own flare asked the scripted questions. From his answers chose “bachelor number one,” Rodney Alcala, introduced to the audience as a photographer and recreational skydiver. What she didn’t know was that he was a convicted child predator and serial killer.
Without standardized background checks, nobody behind the scenes was aware that this man had served time for sexually assaulting and beating an eight-year-old girl, a crime that landed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives List. And, by the time he appeared on television, he had already embarked on a macabre killing spree that left five people dead, although those crimes had yet to be connected to him.
At first charmed by his provocative retorts on the show, Cheryl unknowingly chose her potential killer as her romantic prospect. Then Instinctively was turned off by his “weird vibes” following the taping. So much so that she declined their date to go on a tennis lesson and other prizes that went with being on the show, learning only later how close she had come to a gruesome death.
She told the current contestant coordinator, “Ellen, I can’t go out with this guy. There are weird vibes coming off of him. He’s very strange. I am not comfortable. Is that going to be a problem?” to which she was relieved to hear the words, “Of course not!”
A year later, she would learn the horrific truth about a rapist and serial killer who was just as brutal as Bundy. Yet, his name never became as famous or infamous. As for Cheryl, even though her Dating Game appearance nearly cost her life, her natural intuition that saved it.
According to internet gossip, Cheryl passed away from natural causes at the beginning of 2021. However, it is highly likely that she changed her name and tried to live a normal life after a close encounter with the sadistic killer.
While we could not find definitive proof that she has died… we at WOW wanted to honour her as an Angel to all of us for ability to follow her gut despite being a woman in an era where would have just done what was being expected of her. She gave up the man she chose, the fame and prizes being offered to her and it literally saved her life.
Netflix is making a movie with the dramatic change in which she would have made the choice to follow through on her date with the serial killer, directed by and starring Anna Kendrick as Miss Bradshaw. You can find out more and view the trailers here if interested.
