Unreal doesn't even seem to be that hugely exaggerated- Grace Shapiro was a producer on the Bachelor franchise for years. And it cut close enough to the bone that Chris Harrison (host of the Bachelor franchise) felt compelled to say that it was fiction, even when not a lot of people were watching it.

There's enough talk from previous contestants on the Bachelor franchise to know that UnReal isn't just making stuff up. The non-stop availability of alcohol, and the scarcity of food and water during filming days aren't exactly a secret. The odd editing of everything that goes on- you'll see an ITM (in the moment interview), with odd voiceovers of cobbled together words, and people not even wearing the same clothes, or talking on the same day as they're supposedly giving an interview. "I hate porridge" can easily be turned into "eyeroll, I hate "x contestant", I'm so exhausted that I'm crying can be turned into "I am feeling so guilty about x". Sharleen Joynt ('contestant' on Juan Pablo's season) has spoken up quite a bit about how producers manipulate film and voiceovers to produce the effect that they want.

The most unreal thing that I can see about Unreal (aside from actually causing a contestant's death) is that it's supposedly cranking out an episode the week after it's filmed, which is not the way that the Bachelor franchise does it. They film everything, and then splice and cut the story to fit the narrative they want to tell.

But I don't really consider the Bachelor franchise "reality TV"- it's about as 'real' as Dancing with the Stars is. Even with the producer manipulation etc- it still seems to be a bit less intrinsically damaging than things like Dance Moms, Teen Mom, Big Brother, the Kardashian crap, or the any of the Real Housewives franchises or Princesses Long Island etc. It's all about the drama, and who gives a crap about how much that hurts people, is damaging to the people watching, etc.

I know 'why' reality TV exists now- it's cheaper to produce than scripted drama, and it draws viewers for networks who don't have anything interesting to offer. But it's just ugly, and I don't think that it's doing audiences or networks or producers any favours at all.