THE GREAT RICK ANDERSON MARRIAGE HOAX

Susan O'Hanlon helped Rick start an incredible rumor - but it may turn out to be true.

Richard Dean Anderson getting married! We were aghast when Susan O'Hanlon casually dropped that bombshell on a recent visit to our Daytime TV offices.

"Oh, yeah," Susan said, "about three months ago Ricky Dean was on a plane trip and he met a stewardess on his flight. He fell head-over-heels in love with her and now they're getting married. He's even been up to meet her family in Seattle and I think they'll have the wedding up there."

It wasn't long before our West Coast editor was on the phone to get the whole story from Rick. And he confirmed he had indeed met a stewardess named Kathy McGuiness. In fact, when he'd been stranded in his house during the California flood, she'd been with him. Then the two of them took a sun-filled vacation to Hawaii to recover from their soggy ordeal. They returned from their trip sun-browned and looking more devoted to each other than ever.

But as for the wedding date, he laughed, "We're not formally engaged, just oh so serious." Now wait a minute. What about this story from Susan O'Hanlon - she'd never make up something like that. "Of course not," said tricky Ricky Dean. "I asked her to tell that story to everyone she met because I wanted to see how far it would spread and how long it would take for the story to get back to me."

Okay, so the joke's on us. But you know what they say, where there's smoke there's fire, so maybe wedding bells aren't so far off in Rick's future. Could be he just wanted his bride-to-be to get used to all the publicity that's bound to besiege them when they finally do tie the knot.

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"The Great Rick Anderson Marriage Hoax." Daytime TV. September, 1980: p. 9.