The Bachelorette is an American reality television dating game show that debuted on ABC on January 8, 2003. The show is a spin-off of
The Bachelor and the staple part of
The Bachelor franchise. The first season featured Trista Rehn, the runner-up from the first season of
The Bachelor, offering the opportunity for Rehn to choose a husband among 25 bachelors. The 2004 season of
The Bachelorette again took a runner-up from the previous season of
The Bachelor. After last airing on February 28, 2005, the series returned to ABC during the spring of 2008, following an absence of three years, and has since become an annual staple of the network's summer programming.