Cheryl Bradshaw did not go on the prize date with Rodney Alcala after choosing him on The Dating Game in 1978. She met him in person, became uncomfortable, and declined to continue. Bradshaw later described feeling ill and finding Alcala “really creepy.” Public information about her life afterward remains limited: later reporting says she left California, lived privately, and raised a family.
What happened after Cheryl Bradshaw chose Rodney Alcala?
Bradshaw’s selection on the television show was not the same as accepting a real-life date. After the taping, she met Alcala and decided she did not want to proceed.
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In a 2012 interview with The Sunday Telegraph, as quoted by History.com and later reported elsewhere, Bradshaw recalled: “I started to feel ill. He was acting really creepy.” She also said, “I turned down his offer. I didn’t want to see him again.”
Ellen Metzger, the contestant coordinator associated with the episode, gave a similar account in reporting on an ABC interview. Metzger recalled Bradshaw calling after the show and saying, “I can’t go out with this guy.” Metzger said the cancellation was accepted.
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Did Cheryl Bradshaw actually go on a date with Rodney Alcala?
No. The documented account is that Bradshaw met Alcala after the program, felt uneasy, and declined the prize date. She did not go on the romantic outing arranged through the show.
This distinction matters because the television episode ended with Bradshaw selecting Alcala, while the decision that became significant happened afterward, away from the cameras.
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What is known about Cheryl Bradshaw’s later life?
There is no comprehensive, independently documented public biography of Bradshaw after the show. People’s 2024 reporting, referring to information in the end card for Woman of the Hour, says that she left California, lived privately, and raised a family.
The same report says Anna Kendrick stated that Bradshaw had died before the film was made. Public reporting does not establish a detailed timeline of her later life, a date of death, or a fuller account of her family, so those details should not be expanded beyond what the sources attribute.
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How does Woman of the Hour differ from the documented story?
Woman of the Hour is a dramatization inspired by the 1978 episode, not a complete factual biography of Bradshaw. Reporting by TIME says the film imagines a post-show encounter that is not supported by the reported real sequence.
In the documented account, Bradshaw met Alcala and then contacted the show’s coordinator to say she could not go out with him. Scenes that show a different meeting, dialogue, or a more fully developed personal history for Bradshaw should therefore be treated as fictionalized unless independently corroborated.
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Why is Bradshaw’s decision remembered?
Alcala’s later criminal history gives the canceled date its lasting significance, but it does not provide evidence about Bradshaw’s subsequent life. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation reported that Alcala died of natural causes in custody on July 24, 2021, and identified his appearance on the 1978 episode.
It is reasonable to say Bradshaw avoided a date that she personally found alarming. It is not possible to prove a counterfactual claim about exactly what would have happened had she gone, so descriptions such as “her refusal saved her life” go beyond the evidence.
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A concise timeline
| Year or period | What is documented |
|---|---|
| 1978 | Bradshaw appeared as the bachelorette on The Dating Game and selected Alcala. |
| After the taping | She met Alcala, became uncomfortable, and declined the prize date; contestant coordinator Ellen Metzger recalled receiving her call. |
| 2012 | Bradshaw’s retrospective comments appeared in The Sunday Telegraph; later reporting quoted her description of feeling ill and finding Alcala creepy. |
| July 24, 2021 | California’s corrections department reported Alcala died of natural causes while in custody. |
| 2024 | Coverage of Woman of the Hour revisited the episode and noted how little is publicly known about Bradshaw’s later life. |
What can—and cannot—be said with confidence
- Bradshaw chose Alcala on the show but did not go on the resulting date.
- She met him, felt physically ill or uneasy, and described his behavior as creepy in a later interview.
- Metzger independently recalled Bradshaw saying she could not go out with him.
- Later reports attribute her departure from California, private life, and family to the film’s end notes rather than a full public biography.
- The film’s invented scenes should not be used as evidence of Bradshaw’s real experiences.
Further reading
For broader context on the television episode and Alcala case, readers may consult Stella Sands’s The Dating Game Killer: The True Story of a TV Dating Show, a Violent Sociopath, and a Series of Brutal Murders. It is a book about the case, not a Cheryl Bradshaw biography.
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