‘America Wasn’t Ready’

Queer representation on reality dating shows has a short history. “In previous reality TV shows, there’s only one gay person or one queer person,” said Josh Burnley , 25, an associate producer for BuzzFeed who calls himself a “reality TV junkie” and has been watching “Are You the One?” this season, in a phone call. “It tokenizes people.”

In the early aughts, MTV gave 16 men and 16 women a shot to woo Tila Tequila, though they didn’t know she was bisexual, or that they were competing against each other, until the second episode of the show. (The star has since said that she was not bisexual and acted “gay for pay.”) About a decade later, “Finding Prince Charming,” on which a group of men competed for one man, aired on Logo. Dubbed “the gay Bachelor,” it sunk in the face of negative reviews.

The actual “Bachelor” franchise has had two openly fluid contestants in recent years: Demi Burnett, who is on the current season of “Bachelor in Paradise,” and Jaimi King , who was on “Bachelor in Paradise” in 2017. Ms. King’s portrayal was met with some criticism; in an essay for Refinery29, Sesali Bowen described it as “a spectacle” that sensationalized bisexuality’s “either-way” possibilities.

Ms. King said in a phone call that although no one placed words in her mouth, she is surprised by the language she used on the show.

“I definitely said some things I would never say,” Ms. King said. “Different phrases, like ‘I could have anyone, I could go any way!’ I’m going onto ‘Paradise’ with all my girlfriends that I was on the show with. I’m not trying to date them. I don’t date my friends. And no one else is bisexual.” (“Bachelor in Paradise” features contestants from past seasons of “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette.”)