Claim: The first season of The Bachelorette featured Trista Rehn.

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 aired on the same network . The first season featured Trista Rehn , the runner-up date 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 .