- In September 1978, Bradshaw met Alcalá and refused to see him again.
- Decades later in an interview he recalled his encounter with the serial killer.
The real-life Cheryl Bradshaw felt “sick” after meeting serial killer Rodney Alcala on The Dating Game in September 1978 and refused to meet him again, in a move that likely saved her life.
Anna Kendrick plays Bradshaw in the new Netflix movie, Woman of the Hour, in which she takes on the role of a contestant on The Dating Game, but although it is based on a true story, some elements were fictional, since the real woman remained largely outside. from the center of attention.
However, during a 2012 interview with The Sunday TelegraphBradshaw recalled her encounter with the serial killer, chatting with him backstage at the TV show after choosing him from three eligible singles to date.
Bradshaw explained to the publication: ‘I started to feel sick. He was acting really creepy. I rejected his offer. “I didn’t want to see him again,” before adding that it made her feel “uneasy.”
At the time of his appearance on the show, Alcalá had already murdered five women, had attempted to kill an eight-year-old girl named Tali Shapiro, and was on the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives list.
The real-life Cheryl Bradshaw felt “sick” after meeting serial killer Rodney Alcala on The Dating Game in September 1978.
At the time of his appearance on the show, Alcalá had already murdered five women and was on the FBI’s 10 most wanted fugitives list.
He also served 34 months for child abuse against Shapiro and then spent two and a half years in prison for giving drugs to a 13-year-old girl, but The Dating Game didn’t do a background check on him and did. on national television.
Alcalá proved to be a hit with the public and appeared as Bachelor No. 1 (in the film he appears as Bachelor No. 3) and was described as a “successful photographer” who enjoyed skydiving and motorcycling in his spare time.
During the real-life episode of The Dating Game, Bradshaw asked the men: ‘What’s your best moment?’ to which Alcalá responded: “The best time is at night,” before adding that it is “when it really gets good.”
Bradshaw later asked, “I’ll serve you dinner.” What is your name and what do you look like? and Alcalá responded: ‘My name is ‘the banana’ and I look very good.’
When Bradshaw asked him to be more descriptive, he responded, “Peel me.”
After she chose him as her date, the couple was supposed to receive tennis lessons as part of her prize, followed by a trip to Magic Mountain, the Six Flags amusement park in California.
In the film, the duo are supposed to take a trip to Carmel together, but Kendrick’s character changes his mind after having a very creepy encounter with the fictional Alcala (played by Daniel Zovatto) in the parking lot after going for a drink. drink with him. the recording of the television program.
In a 2021 appearance on 20/20The Dating Game contestant coordinator Ellen Metzger recalled how Bradshaw’s enthusiasm for Alcalá turned into a “pretty lukewarm union” after their initial face-to-face meeting.
Anna Kendrick plays Cheryl Bradshaw in Woman of the Hour, while serial killer Rodney Alcalá is played by Daniel Zovatto.
The film is based on American serial killer Rodney Alcalá, who appears here in court in 2013.
Metzger recalled that the day after filming, Bradshaw called the show’s office and expressed his concerns.
“She said, ‘Ellen, I can’t date this guy. There are weird vibrations coming out of him. It’s very strange. I don’t feel comfortable. Is that going to be a problem?” And of course I said, “No.”
Speaking of Bradshaw, Kendrick, who also directed the film, said: “There’s very little public information about the real person, so Cheryl’s life before The Dating Game is basically an imagined version of a 1970s woman.
“And her story became central to unraveling the thematic elements of the pervasive gender issues that had their roots in that era and persist today.”