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.

For its first 16 seasons the show was hosted by Chris Harrison. JoJo Fletcher took on temporary hosting duties during season 16 when Harrison was isolating having taken his son to college.

In March 2021, the show announced it would air two seasons for the first time ever. The seventeenth season debuted on June 7, 2021, with former Bachelorettes Tayshia Adams and Kaitlyn Bristowe as hosts. The eighteenth season premiered on October 19, 2021, with Adams and Bristowe returning as co-hosts.

In March 2022, it was announced that there would be two Bachelorettes in one season. The 19th season premiered on July 11, 2022, with Jesse Palmer as host. Although season 11 featured two Bachelorettes in the first episode, and season 16 featured two consecutive Bachelorettes within a season, this marked the first time that two women led concurrently for the entire season.

On February 10, 2024, ABC renewed the series for a twenty-first season, which premiered on July 8, 2024. On February 7, 2025, it was announced that the show will be on hiatus for the summer 2025 television season.