There's a new Bachelorette in town!
On Tuesday's Women Tell All special, host Jesse Palmer asked Charity Lawson from Zach Shallcross's season of The Bachelor to step into the spotlight as next season's Bachelorette — and she accepted!
"Stop! Is this for real?" Lawson, 27, said. "No way! Oh my god, I'm gonna cry."
Palmer, 44, confirmed the legitimacy of the offer and asked, "Is that a yes? Will you do it?"
"Absolutely!" Lawson said. "100 percent!"
She broke into tears. "I've waited forever to find the love of my life," Lawson said. "It blows my mind that I could meet my person and be engaged and literally have my happily ever after."
Shallcross, 26, sent Lawson home at the end of Monday's episode after meeting her family in Georgia. During hometowns, Lawson told Shallcross, "I'm honestly falling in love."
So, as expected, it hurt that much more when Lawson was sent home.
"I took a big risk, obviously, coming here and putting my heart out on the line," she told Shallcross. "And I knew that from night one the moment that you spoke and the moment that I knew it was you, I knew that this experience was going to be something incredible. It's bittersweet for sure."
The Bachelor called letting Lawson go "the hardest decision I've had to make." He also claimed he couldn't give her the love he deserved.
"It burns because it doesn't make sense," the child and family therapist told the cameras. "It makes no f---ing sense to me."
Prior to being eliminated, Lawson said she could "100 percent see myself at the end of this with Zach."
"He's just done such a fantastic job of making me feel seen and making me feel wanted just by being myself," she told Palmer, 44. "And that's all I ever wanted."
Earlier in the season, Lawson opened up about experiencing "occurrences of infidelity" in a previous relationship.
"The relationship prior to being here was … it was an emotionally abusive relationship for me," she said during her one-on-one in Estonia. "I never honestly felt what it feels like to be seen as a partner or to be seen as a girlfriend."
Lawson said her former partner cheated with someone she knew. "It just became this really vicious cycle of manipulation," the Auburn University grad said.
Now, Lawson looks forward to finding her happily ever after. "I'm so ready to get engaged to the right person," she told the cameras on Tuesday's episode.
She also understands the magnitude of stepping into this role.
"I can't wait to show little girls that look like me being in a position like this is possible," Lawson continued. "I know that I'll be making a lot of people proud."
The Bachelor airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.
