On July 30, 2013, Lifetime placed a pilot order on Unreal, inspired by Sarah Gertrude Shapiro's award-winning independent short film Sequin Raze. Shapiro had previously worked at the American reality dating series The Bachelor. The pilot was written by Marti Noxon and Shapiro, and directed by Peter O'Fallon. On February 6, 2014, Lifetime officially green-lit Un-Real with a 10-episode series order. In March 2015, the premiere date was announced as June 1, 2015. On July 6, 2015, the series was renewed for a second season of 10 episodes, to premiere in 2016. The second season continued to feature the fictional show, Everlasting, with Quinn and Rachel returning as main characters.