It’s finally here. Bachelor Nation has been anxiously awaiting the newest season of The Bachelorette. And tonight, the first episode of the season premieres.
Sure, it probably won’t be quite as exciting as The Golden Bachelor, but I’m still betting Charity’s season will be very entertaining.
ICYMI, Charity Lawson will be The Bachelorette for the show’s 20th season. Charity was among Zach Shallcross‘s final few contestants, making it all the way to the hometown episode before getting sent home. Zach said this decision was one of the most difficult choices he made throughout his season, and also supported Charity going on to be the next Bachelorette.
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“She knows what she wants. She is so confident, she’s so sweet and, you know, she has a great heart,” he told US Weekly in March. “She’s someone from the very beginning that—I don’t know what exactly it was—but [she] was just trustworthy.”
Charity was also a fan favorite, so she was a natural choice for the next Bachelorette. After some speculation, Jesse Palmer finally made the news official during The Bachelor’s “Women Tell All” episode on March 14.
Although Charity’s season hasn’t even aired yet, quite a few spoilers have already been revealed. In fact, there’s already a pretty solid guess about who makes it to the end and gets her final rose.
Below, Women’s Health has gathered all the details about the upcoming season of The Bachelorette—from the contestants to the dates—all thanks to Reality Steve.
Who is Charity Lawson?
The 27-year-old Bachelorette is originally from Georgia, but currently calls Charlotte, North Carolina home, according to her LinkedIn page.
She studied at Auburn University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in clinical mental health counseling. According to her LinkedIn, she currently works as a child and family therapist. Charity is also a total romantic, and lists The Notebook as her favorite movie, per her ABC Bachelor profile. Hopefully she’ll find her own Noah Calhoun this season!
As for what she’s looking for, Charity recently told Entertainment Tonight that she’s approaching The Bachelorette with “an open mind, open heart, ready to fall back into love.”
Her final four have been revealed.
Surprise! Xavier Bonner, Joey Graziadei, Aaron Bryant, and Dotun Olubeko all make it to Charity’s final four, Reality Steve announced via Instagram on April 11. (He originally said it was Tanner, but later fixed his mistake). These four boys get hometowns with Charity. Lucky them!
According to Steve, Aaron certainly makes it to an overnight date and to the final three, but does not get the final rose. He was filmed in San Diego the day the final rose ceremony took place, and is slated to be in Bachelor in Paradise‘s next season. Steve is fairly certain that Dotun, Xavier, and Joey are the final three—but he isn’t ready to confirm just yet. It’s unclear exactly when Aaron is eliminated, but he does make it to Fiji.
When does ‘The Bachelorette’ season 20 air?
ABC confirmed that the new season of the Bachelorette will air its first episode on June 26, 2023.
There will also be an update to the usual time slot for the upcoming season. Rather than 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET, which is typical for the Bachelor Nation franchise, the newest Bachelorette season will be pushed an hour back, airing from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. ET, per ABC.
Charity’s season could be slightly shorter than usual. Although The Bachelorette typically has a shorter season than The Bachelor, Charity whittled her crew down to just six men after only a few weeks of filming.
Reality Steve tweeted that this is a sign of a shorter season to come, but Charity may start eliminating the men at a slower pace. Time will tell.
There are 25 contestants.
Charity’s season of the Bachelorette seems a bit…accelerated, but she starts off with 25 contestants. Reality Steve has the inside scoop on who the eligible bachelors are for this season:
- Sean McLaughlin
- John Buresh
- Tanner Courtad
- Taylor Pegg
- Warwick Reider
- James Pierce
- Aaron Schwartzman
- Josh Young
- Kaleb Kim
- Joey Graziadei
- Christopher Spell
- Aaron Bryant
- Xavier Bonner
- Caleb Balgaard
- Joe Menzia
- Michael Barbour
- Caleb Arthur
- Brayden Bowers
- John Henry Spurlock
- Spencer Storbeck
- Dotun Olubeko
- Adrian Hassan
- Khalid Hassan
- Nicholas Barber
- Peter Cappio
There were also four men who Reality Steve recently said were cut from the show before filming began:
- Brandon Wallace
- Chris Blackman
- Demarcus Gresham
- Steve Cole
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The rose ceremonies are cutthroat.
In the first rose ceremony, Charity reduces her pool from 25 to 19 men, and her rose ceremony cuts seem more extensive than usual. Here are all the eliminations from each rose ceremony so far, per Reality Steve.
Rose Ceremony #1
- Chris Blackman
- Joe Menzia
- Khalid Hassan
- Nicholas Barber
- Peter Cappio
- Taylor Pegg.
Rose Ceremony #2
- Caleb Arthur
- John Henry Spurlock
- Josh Young
- Kaleb Kim
- Spencer Storbeck
Rose Ceremony #3
- Aaron Schwartzman
- Adrian Hassan
- James Pierce
- Warwick Reider (eliminated during a one-on-one date)
Rose Ceremony #4
- Caleb Balgaard
- John Buresh
- Michael Barbour
- Brayden Bowers (sent home during the group date)
(No Rose Ceremony in New Orleans, but Sean McLaughlin and Tanner Courtad are sent home)
Rose Ceremony #5
Steve also says that three men (most likely Xavier, Dotun, and Joey, but one could be swapped out for Aaron) get overnight dates, and one is eliminated during his, but Steve isn’t exactly sure who they are yet. Stay tuned.
Charity is happy with this batch of men.
With filming already underway, Charity has gotten her first impressions of this season’s men—and they’re positive! She recently told ET that she thought the first night was a “good one,” and that she enjoyed the men’s limo entrances.
“I’m a little giddy. Definitely smitten. I have a good batch of boys…I was laughing the whole night,” Charity told ET. Also per ET, Charity’s brother, Nehemiah, will apparently make an appearance during the Bachelorette premiere.
There’s a Barbie-themed group date.
Reality Steve is also already coming in hot with date spoilers! Steve reported via Twitter that Charity’s first group date will be a visit to the Hollywood sign (reportedly 12 men go on this date). Later, he shared an image of a marquee that hints at The Bachelorette‘s first one-on-one date.
The date, a private concert at the Los Angeles theater, occurs with Aaron Bryant. Charity also went on another one-on-one with contestant Brayden Bowers to PetCo Park in San Diego, which is apparently his hometown, according to Reality Steve.
The couple apparently shared a picnic on the field and played with golden retrievers—oh, and they arrived by helicopter. An ideal first date if you ask me!
Finally, Charity’s men participated in a “Barbie Sing Off” recently, which makes sense considering the Greta Gerwig film hits theaters around the time this episode will probably air. According to Steve, all of the men had to sing their own version of “Girls Just Want To Have Fun.”
Charity’s season will have contestants traveling all around the country.
According to Steve, Charity’s season has filmed Washington state. The Bachelorette reportedly had a one-on-one date with Dotun at Mt. Hood Ski Bowl (hopefully no lawsuits came of it), and had another one-on-one with Xavier, and a group date, where Brayden Bowers is sent home. The group also has a rose ceremony before traveling to down New Orleans.
In NOLA, Charity had a one-on-one date with Joey Graziadei in Jackson Square. Then, she runs a 10K with Dotun. I’d say that’s a rough first date, but Dotun was apparently a track star in college, per Reality Steve, so it probably went really well.
Another interesting part of the Bachelorette group’s NOLA stay: there isn’t a rose ceremony. Charity apparently hands out her roses during the dates. Sean McLaughlin and Tanner Courtad are sent home.
Charity travels far and wide for hometowns.
According to Steve, Charity has four hometown dates with Xavier, Joey, Aaron Bryant, and Dotun. She travels to Ohio (Xavier), Pennsylvania (Joey), Texas (Aaron), and California (Dotun).
Based on Steve’s predictions about the final three, it seems that Aaron is eliminated following the hometown dates, but it’s still a bit too early to confirm anything.
Her overnights take place in Fiji.
In April, the Bachelorette Instagram account shared exclusive PEOPLE photos of Charity in Fiji. This is a pretty big deal because, according to Reality Steve, no Bachelor franchise show has ever revealed where the destination episodes are before those episodes premiere, but they gave PEOPLE exclusive details.
Obviously, it hasn’t been confirmed outright that Charity’s overnights will take place in Fiji—but it seems pretty likely, given that it’s the most romantic destination they’ve been throughout filming.
In another podcast episode, Steve also referenced a Reddit video where two of Charity’s men were spotted in Fiji: Aaron and Dotun. He later said that Aaron was spotted in “several Instagram stories” at parties in San Diego while filming for the Bachelorette should’ve been taking place.
“I think it’s safe to say Aaron did not win,” Steve said on the podcast episode. “In fact, I will say it: Aaron didn’t win.”
If he’s right, that means it’s down to Dotun, Joey, and Xavier. Charity’s season is already very interesting—and hopefully there are many more spoilers to come. Tune in to tonight’s premiere at 9 p.m. ET on ABC for even more details.
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Olivia Evans (she/her) is an editorial assistant at Women’s Health. Her work has previously appeared in The Cut and Teen Vogue. She loves covering topics where culture and wellness intersect. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, running, and watching rom-coms.
