So we know Trista and Ryan have an eleven-year-plus marriage attributable to “The Bachelorette.” But what about that venerable ancestor of The Bachelor and The Bachlorette? Did any marriages come about from introductions made on Chuck Barris’ “The Dating Game?”
Well, you came to the right place to ask. I currently have, in my bathroom, Chuck Barris’s 1993 autobiography “The Game Show King”, and yes, there were marriages between DG contestants:
- The first marriage was between a model and a race car driver in 1966. An ABC network honcho told Chuck that they needed to “get a marriage” for the show, putting Chuck in a panic. Luckily, they were able to find a couple that wanted to get married and they filmed a segment for their Valentine’s Day show announcing the upcoming nuptials.
A few days before the show aired, the couple called Barris and said they weren’t getting married. Realizing he was being blackmailed, and realizing he could do nothing about it, Barris wrote them a check for $20k, flew them down to Tijuana, and married them. It was after the marriage that the woman revealed that she was a hooker and that the man was an elevator operator who cooked up this little scam.
They immediately filmed the final segment, gave the “contestants” their prizes… and promptly cancelled the check within 5 minutes of taping having ended.
- The second marriage involved a newspaper reporter who was unduly hard on Chuck Barris and his shows (Newlywed Show, Dating Game, some others). Knowing he was going to get his ass kicked by this reporter, Barris had the bright idea of inviting the man to be a contestant on the show, having his pick of three lovely ladies on the other side of the curtain.
Unknown to the reporter, he was being set up - the three ladies were not the typical models but were call girls specifically selected for this episode. But, unknown to Barris, on the trip that the couple won, they completely hit it off and decided to get married.
The marriage was held at the reporters house, with the maid of honor being a 19yo street prostitute named “Cherry Garcia”, who was voted Miss Hollywood Call Girl of 1968. This woman was so dedicated to her job that she had her teeth removed so she could be voted Best Head of 1969.
When the reporters article appeared, it was positively glowing about the general awesomeness of The Dating Game.
I always thought it would be appropriate for couples to go from The Dating Game to The Newlywed Game. After that, they’d probably be headed for Divorce Court.
From what I’ve heard, many of the couples on Dating Game did not hit it off at all. Claudia Jennings, Playboy’s PMOY for 1970, told Johnny Carson that her date ditched her as soon as they got to whatever exotic local they were visiting, and she never saw him again!
http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/original/eicX3cmq3EnnAC59CDO9dSl8ySU.jpg
Kinda hard to believe, but… 
What would really creep me out is learning that I’d been paired with a sociopath like this guy: