B.J. Britt plays the new suitor on the Lifetime drama "UnREAL," a riff on the reality show "The Bachelor."
B.J. Britt plays the new suitor on the Lifetime drama "UnREAL," a riff on the reality show "The Bachelor."
Jesse Grant/A+E Networks/Getty Images

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There has never been a black "Bachelor" contestant

"UnREAL" star B.J. Britt jokes about Obama comparison

CNN  — 

Actor B.J. Britt has a little something in common with the President of the United States.

While Barack Obama is the nation’s first black president, Britt has the distinction of being the first African-American bachelor on a reality show – sort of.

The actor stars in the new season of the Lifetime drama “UnREAL,” which riffs off of the popular reality show “The Bachelor.” That ABC show has taken heat for its lack of either a minority bachelor or winner.

‘UnREAL’ tackles thorny issue of race in reality TV dating shows

Britt appears Friday on the syndicated TV talk show “The Real” and said he thinks the real “Bachelor” is a great show.

“I feel like the writers on ‘UnREAL,’ you know, they feel very strongly about that … and very passionate about, you know, discrimination and everything going on, diversity,” the actor told the show. “And, in the writer’s room, there are a lot of different voices and everything like that. So they felt strongly about it.”

Britt joked about being compared to Obama.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I mean … that’s all for you to decide.”