The serial killer of the chilling moment is chosen in the gameshow in real-life images that inspired Woman Of The Hour – True Crime

In 1978, Cheryl Bradshaw appeared on the matchmaking show The dating game as she searched for love.

She would later discover that the man she chose to date – Rodney Alcala – was actually a notorious serial killer.

Unearthed video footage shows the chilling moment she chose Alcala, who would go on to be dubbed ‘The Dating Game Killer’.

Rodney Alcala was in the middle of a murder spree when he made his TV appearance, having raped and assaulted several people and committed several murders.

So in 1978 he continued The dating game and ended up winning a meeting with Bradshaw.

During the episode, Bradshaw questioned three eligible bachelors, who were hidden from his view.

At the end of the interrogation period, she chose “bachelor number one” – also known as Alcala – to accompany her on an all-expenses-paid date.

As Bradshaw made his choice, the audience applauded and Alcala broke into a wide smile.

The two then met face to face and hugged, before being told they were going to play tennis and go to a theme park together.

Cheryl Bradshaw met serial killer Rodney Alcala on The Dating Game in 1978 (ABC)

But, a frightening backstage encounter led Bradshaw to decline the meeting with Alcala, a move that may have saved her from becoming his next victim.

“I started to feel sick,” she told the Sydney Telegraph in 2012. “He was acting very scary. I declined the offer.

At the time, she called producer Ellen Metzger and said, “There are weird vibes coming from him. He’s really weird. I don’t feel comfortable. Is that going to be a problem?”

Fortunately, Metzger agreed and everything was cancelled.

Alcala’s chilling crimes are retold in Netflix’s Woman of the House (Netflix)

After its appearance in The dating gameAlcala would commit at least three more murders, before being arrested on July 24, 1979, and sentenced to death.

The killer died of natural causes in 2021, 42 years to the day he was arrested, and has since been linked to around 130 other cold cases.

Netflix’s latest true crime thriller Woman of the hourwhich was released on the streaming platform last week (October 18), tells the story of Alcala’s victims and their lives, which he brutally ended.

Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com called the film “a confidently made thriller that’s not just a true crime story, but a revelation of systemic misogyny and how it encourages violence.”