Karen Valentine, the star of ‘Room 222,’ recalls an ‘awful’ experience she had on ‘The Dating Game’

“The Dating Game” was the pioneer for all dating reality shows, and it helped stars like Karen Valentine become famous. However, many years later, Valentine decided to open up about a seriously “awful” date she had to endure while participating in the show.

Karen Valentine in The Dating Game

There is a massive amount of interest in dating shows in today’s age; for some reason or other, TV viewers like to watch people find their perfect matches and go on the most romantic dates. “The Dating Game” pioneered all reality dating shows. With its premier in 1965, the show captured the hearts of millions of viewers and inspired an era of reality dating shows of a similar nature.

The host of “The Dating Game,” Jim Lange, contributed so much to the entertainment industry with this unique style of matchmaking. The show would have three eligible men or women hidden behind a panel. Then, the contestant would ask them all various questions. According to their answers, the contestant would then choose whom they would like to date. However, they would only see the face of their chosen bachelor or bachelorette once they made their decision.

The show saw many of the famous actors and actresses we know and love so well become famous. One, in particular, was Karen Valentine. She gained fame for her appearances on the show over the years. Valentine caught viewers’ attention, spurring her into a successful acting career. Thanks to the Dating Game, she landed her role in the television series, “Room 222,” for which she

An “Awful” Experience

There is a fine line between reality TV and real life, and no one knows how much of it is acting or honest behavior. For Karen Valentine, it was definitely more of an acting gig. The dates she would go on were not serious for her. However, in one episode, the man she chose to go on a date with had other ideas. He allegedly thought it was a real date, and it turned out to be an “awful” experience. Karen Valentine opened up about it recently after all these years.

Karen explained how the Dating Game started sending the contestants on vacations with their chosen dates. “The Dating Game got more serious later where people would be sent on trips,” Valentine, now 76, told Closer Weekly.

Has anyone mentioned that Karen Valentine played Gidget in Gidget Grows Up, an ABC Movie of the Week? pic.twitter.com/AZRMjmdMnN

— Classic Film TV Cafe (@classic_film) June 11, 2020

She said she only won a night out at the Ambassador Hotel to watch a show, but the man she was with wanted a little more from her. “I only got to go to the Ambassador Hotel to see a show, but the guy thought we were going to make out in the limo and it, was, like, ‘You know this is a first date, right?’ It was so sleazy. You’d go to dinner and then to a show, which is the prize I won, but the guy thought this was serious. I wanted to get out of the date. You know, ‘Save the money, who needs to go on a date? Let me do another show. Give me a shot at acting or something.’”

Thankfully, Karen Valentine handled the situation with grace. At least she got a great career in acting after she was done with the match-making game show. She can happily reflect back on her life.

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