Charity Lawson embarked on her first round of dates on Monday's Bachelorette — and she couldn’t have been more excited.
“Dating 19 men, this is my new reality and boy am I ready for it!” Charity, 27, said in an on-camera interview. “I have the best guys here and after last night, I genuinely do believe I can find love.”
FIRST ONE-ON-ONE
Aaron B. scored the first one-on-one date of the season, so he hopped into a bright red convertible with Charity and she drove them to the Hollywood sign, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. In the car, the 29-year-old and Charity bonded over having a parent in the military and parents who cleaned early in the morning on weekends.
Once they arrived at the Hollywood sign, Aaron B. and Charity popped champagne and toasted. Charity told Aaron B. she hoped to recreate the long-lasting marriages of both of their parents (hers have been married 48 years), and the software salesman agreed.
“I’ll be as old as the Hollywood sign talking about my best friend,” Aaron B. said.
He and Charity proceeded to go all the way up to the sign, where Aaron B. flipped a coin — just as he had on arrival night — and said that if it landed on heads, he and Charity would find the “everlasting love” they’d been discussing. And even though Aaron B. revealed he’d been using a trick coin, he still received a kiss from Charity.
Over dinner, Aaron B. told Charity about his close relationship with his brother and his experience being in a four-year relationship in college. “I struggled with active listening, I struggled with communication and it’s something I messed up,” he confessed.
Aaron B. then shared that he started going to therapy, and Charity appreciated that.
“There’s nothing more attractive than someone who is going to put in the work to become a better person for their future partner,” Charity said in an interview. “And that is what I’m looking for in a man.”
Charity gave Aaron B. the date rose and they ended the night with a private performance from country star Lauren Alaina.
FIRST GROUP DATE
Dotun, Tanner, Adrian, John, Caleb A., Caleb B., Kaleb K., Xavier, James, Aaron S., Sean and First Impression Rose recipient Brayden headed out on the first group date of the season. It started out as fun and games on the beach until host Jesse Palmer informed the men they’d be playing dodgeball in a little “friendly competition for Charity’s heart.”
The men put on swim thongs (“Sports cups are mandatory,” Jesse said) and split up into two teams, pink and green. The winning team would go to the after party, while the losing team would return to the mansion.
Xavier, 27, dominated the first round for the pink team to give them a win, but the teams evened it up heading into the fifth and final round. The green team’s Adrian, 33, got three people out with one ball, but then the pink team caught his throw and won the whole thing. Still, Charity named Adrian the game’s MVP, which secured his ticket to the after party.
Brayden, 24, thought Caleb B. deserved the title instead, and they bickered about it at the beginning of the after party. Brayden got over it though when he chatted with Charity and kissed her.
John, 27, also went in for a kiss, and Charity liked that he took initiative. “I’m so happy with John,” Charity said in an interview. “He really did show a different side of himself.”
During MVP Adrian’s time with Charity, he told her how he left his daughter behind to come on the show and therefore didn’t appreciate how some of the men seemed to think of their time there as “spring break.”
“Do you feel like their intentions aren’t being here for me?” Charity asked Adrian.
He deflected. “I feel like you’ll be able to figure that out,” Adrian replied.
Charity immediately confronted the group about the concern. “There might be people here treating this like spring break,” she said to the men on the group date. “If that is the case, I don’t want that. I’m not interested in that. I want to make It very clear, my purpose is solely for me finding my person. You all hopefully should be here for that as well.”
Charity ended the evening by giving data scientist John the group date rose.
SECOND GROUP DATE
Former Bachelorettes Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey planned the next group date for Charity and her suitors John Henry, Michael, Warwick, Joey, Spencer and Josh. Rachel, 27, and Gabby, 32, revealed that they set up a series of questions for the men to answer and whichever guy Charity picked based on their responses would attempt to break the franchise’s record for longest kiss with the Georgia native.
The questions included “what is the sexiest thing about Charity?” and requests for the guys to show Rachel, Gabby, Charity and the audience their “ultimate makeout.” Charity decided Joey, 27, had the most sincere answers and gave him a shot at the record-breaking kiss. At four minutes and 25 seconds, they blew Sean Lowe's record out of the water.
As a reward, Joey received a one-on-one date with Charity that night. During the date, the tennis pro told Charity his parents divorced when he was young because his dad came out as gay.
“My dad is now someone that I talk to about everything,” Joey said.
Joey received a rose, but back at the mansion, Brayden didn’t like what he heard about the day’s group date. “I feel like they were disrespected,” Brayden told the cameras.
Brayden packed his bags, ready to leave over the date.
BARBECUE AND ROSE CEREMONY
Jesse, 44, let the men know that instead of a cocktail party, Charity wanted to do a barbecue. During the daytime party, Charity shared a kiss with Dotun, 30, heard from Tanner, 30, about his hope of finding his “forever person” and learned how to play golf from Sean, 25.
Brayden said he felt ready to leave and wanted to talk to Charity about the makeout group date.
“I felt so bad for those guys,” the travel nurse told Charity.
Charity assured Brayden, “It was not coming from a malicious place.”
They seemed to smooth things over, and Charity actually said in an interview that she appreciated Brayden’s honesty because “he does not hold back with me, which is nice.”
But then when Charity spoke with Adrian, he told her Brayden had called the date “classless.”
“To be called ‘classless,’ that’s just not the word that was used in our conversation,” Charity said.
Charity left the barbecue early and when Jesse informed the men about her departure, they wondered who spoke to her last and what they discussed. Adrian admitted she did “ask me about last night” and owned up to rehashing Brayden’s reaction to the second group date.
Everyone reconvened at the rose ceremony.
“I’m doing what I feel is best and that doesn’t take away from any of you all,” Charity said to the men.
She gave roses to Dotun, Tanner, Caleb B., Warwick, Michael, Shawn, Xavier, Aaron S., James, Adrian and Bradyen. That meant John Henry, Josh, Spencer and Kaleb K. headed home.
The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
