The US reality television show The Bachelorette is one of the most successful productions in its genre. It only recently featured its first African American lead, a long-expected departure from the show’s dominantly white cast. By analysing how the show discusses race, this article sheds light on how reality television sensationalizes racism. Racism in reality television is not, as the production wants to make viewers believe, the result of individual cases of prejudice, but a problem of those responsible in the control room and, arguably, of those tuning in.