The evil and psychotic Hailey Michaels
Hailey Michaels (Jillian Murray) is the hidden main villainess from the 2021 Lifetime film, Deadly Dating Game (alternately titled, Deadly Radio Romance; airdate March 14, 2021).
Backstory and Introduction[]
Hailey Michaels is the producer of Love on the Air, a radio show hosted by main protagonist Shannon Baker, who was also befriended by Hailey. Despite Shannon and Hailey's friendship, Hailey had ambitions of taking over as host of the show, and in addition, she also harbored jealousy of Shannon due to not only her job, but her relationship with Gavin Newman, who Hailey was in love with and had met before Gavin encountered Shannon, happening prior to the film's events.
Hailey had managed to convince Shannon to break up with Gavin, adding that he wasn't right for Shannon while masking her own desire to be with Gavin. After Shannon broke up with Gavin, Hailey took the opportunity to head to New York and run into Gavin, though her attempts to acquire a date were kiboshed, as Gavin had informed Hailey that he was seeing someone else.
Heel Turn/Events[]
Hailey (in her hooded disguise) stalking Shannon Baker
Afterwards, Hailey began turning heel in her quest to obtain Gavin, doing so by stalking him entering the film's opening. While donning a hooded disguise, Hailey tracked Gavin while he was on a picnic with his girlfriend, Evelyn, and overheard Gavin mention his past relationship with Shannon. After Evelyn left, Hailey pursued Evelyn and shoved her off the park's steps, killing Evelyn and completing Hailey's heel turn. The villainess later convinced Shannon to put herself out there and organize a contest for a potential suitor on her radio show, doing so to eliminate any chance of Shannon and Gavin getting back together.
The contest was won by Ian, leading to Ian and Shannon going on a series of dates, with Hailey expressing happiness for her friend--as well as hidden pleasure over her plan succeeding. However, after seeing that Gavin had returned and spoke to Shannon, the evil Hailey elevated her deranged scheme by stalking both Ian and Shannon outside the latter's house, and later hid in ambush before bludgeoning Ian to death. The maniacal villainess then planned to use Shannon's mysterious "blue cupcake" gifter to her advantage, as she planned to portray her crimes as the work of an obsessed stalker, with part of the ruse including a recorded male voice professing his love for Shannon.
As a result, Shannon was instructed to follow safety protocols, and was provided with a taser to use as protection, with Shannon giving the weapon to Hailey. Later in the film, Hailey was found attacked in the booth, having set up her own assault to cover her tracks. On the following day, Hailey contacted Shannon and informed her that she received a call from the police, which stated that the stalker had been caught, claiming that it was the "blue cupcake" gifter.
Climax & Reveal[]
Hailey revealing her villainy to Shannon
Hailey's deceptive statement works, and Shannon's guard is let down, allowing the villainous madwoman to continue stalking Shannon, who ended up getting back together with Gavin. During the film's climax, Shannon and Gavin received a gift from the former's boss, Franklyn Jones: a bottle of wine in celebration of Shannon winning Recorder of the Year. However, when Shannon phoned Franklyn and thanked him, she was told by Franklyn that he didn't send the wine, which was sampled by Gavin, only for Gavin to collapse due to the wine being poisoned by the actual sender: Hailey.
All the while, Hailey entered Franklyn's office and picked up Shannon's award, while stating that it would be her turn next year. In response, Franklyn informed Hailey that she would not be selected to replace Shannon, as they were moving on in a different direction. Hailey appeared to take it well and took Franklyn's coffee under that claim that she gave him her own as a mistake, but in actuality, the psychotic villainess seethed over her ambitions and poisoned Franklyn's coffee before sending a text to Shannon luring her back to the studio.
Shannon arrived and found Franklyn dead while hearing the recorded voice, and later turned around to find Hailey wielding her taser at Shannon. The scene completed Hailey's reveal as the villainess behind everything that occurred, and during her reveal, Hailey revealed her jealousy of Shannon, claiming that Shannon got everything--including Gavin. The villainess also admitted her ambitions and her love for Gavin, and also confessed to killing Evelyn and Ian, as well as her plan to set up a stalker for her own crimes.
Hailey later voiced her anger over Shannon not drinking the poisoned wine, and afterwards, she revealed her plan to kill Shannon and set it up as a murder-suicide committed by Franklyn, who she blamed for breaking his promise to give her a show of her own, while adding that her plan would result in that and being with Gavin. Shannon later tossed the trophy as a distraction, allowing her to tackle Hailey and fight with her before police arrived and arrested the villainess. The film's final scene showed Hailey in a mental hospital introducing herself as the host of Love on the Air, a sign that the deranged madwoman's delusional ambitions had remained intact.
Trivia[]
- Jillian Murray also played psychotic villainess Alexis Sawyer in 2018's A Dangerous Date, and later played evil stepmother Susanna Williams in 2022's Killer Stepmom.
Personality[]
- Hailey Michaels bears some similarities to Darrow & Darrow villainess Norah LaRochelle, as both were ambitious villainesses who targeted the main obstacle in the way of their professional goal, and used murder in each of their quests.
- Hailey is also similar to fellow Lifetime film villainess Kristin, from Brutal Bridesmaids, as each villainess served as a friend of the main protagonist, only to become villainous and terrorize her friend to gain the affections of the friend's lover. One glaring difference in that regard: Kristin never resorted to serial killing, Hailey did.
Gallery[]
