“It didn’t come from a malicious place,” Charity Lawson told one of the men during Monday’s episode of “The Bachelorette.”
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This post contains spoilers from Monday’s episode of the bachelorette.
Charity Lawson began her first dating streak on Monday Bachelorette – and she couldn’t have been more excited.
“Meeting 19 men is my new reality and I’m ready for it!” Charity, 27, said in an on-camera interview. “I have the best guys here and after last night I really believe I can find love.”
Related: "Bachelorette" Star Charity Lawson is ‘grateful’ Rachel Lindsay is ‘in my corner’ (Exclusive)
FIRST INDIVIDUAL
Aaron B. marked the first one-on-one date of the season, so he jumped 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 relative in the military and parents cleaning early mornings on weekends.
Upon arriving at the Hollywood sign, Aaron B. and Charity popped champagne and toasted. Charity told Aaron B. that she hoped to recreate both parents’ long-lasting marriages (hers have been married for 48 years), and the software vendor agreed.
“I’ll be as old as the Hollywood sign talking about my best friend,” Aaron B. said.
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He and Charity continued up to the sign, where Aaron B. tossed a coin – as he had done the night he arrived – and said if it landed on heads, he and Charity would find “eternal love”. had discussed. And even though Aaron B. revealed he used a coin, he still got a kiss from Charity.
Over dinner, Aaron B. spoke to Charity about his close relationship with his brother and his experience in a four-year college relationship. “I struggled with active listening, I struggled with communication and that’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 will work to become a better person for their future partner,” Charity said in an interview. “And that’s what I look for in a man.”
Charity gave Aaron B. the pink date and they ended the evening with a private performance by 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 set off for the first group date of the season. It started out as fun and games on the beach until host Jesse Palmer informed the men that they would be playing dodgeball in a little “charity heart friendly competition”.
The men donned swim flip flops (“Sport cuts are mandatory,” Jesse said) and separated into two teams, pink and green. The winning team would go to the after party, while the losing team would return to the mansion.
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Xavier, 27, dominated the first round for the pink team to give them a victory, but the teams tied before the fifth and final round. Adrian, 33, of the green team, knocked out three people with a ball, but the pink team caught their throw and won it all. 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 start of the after party. Brayden got over it when he chatted with Charity and kissed her.
John, 27, also went for a kiss, and Charity liked that he took initiative. “I’m so happy with John,” Charity said in an interview. “He really showed another side of himself.”
During MVP Adrian’s time with Charity, he told her how he had left his daughter behind to come on the show and therefore didn’t appreciate how some men seemed to view their time there as a “summer vacation.” spring “.
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“Do you feel like their intentions aren’t there for me?” Charity asked Adrian.
He deviated. “I have a feeling you’ll be able to figure that out,” Adrian replied.
Charity immediately confronted the group about this concern. “There may be people here who treat it like spring break,” she told the men on the group date. “If that’s the case, I don’t want that. I do not care. I want to make it very clear, my goal is only to find my person. Hope you all should be here for that too.
Charity ended the evening by giving data scientist John the pink band date.
SECOND GROUP DATE
Former singles Rachel Recchia and Gabby Windey have planned the next group date for Charity and her suitors John Henry, Michael, Warwick, Joey, Spencer and Josh. Rachel, 27, and Gabby, 32, revealed they had set up a series of questions for the men to answer and the guy chosen by Charity based on their answers would try to break the franchise record for the longest kiss with the Georgia native.
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Questions included “what’s the sexiest thing about Charity?” and asks the guys to show Rachel, Gabby, Charity and the audience their “ultimate makeup.” Charity decided Joey, 27, had the most heartfelt answers and gave him a shot at the record kiss. At four minutes and 25 seconds, they blew Sean Lowe’s record out of the water.
As a reward, Joey was given a one-on-one date with Charity that night. During the date, the tennis pro told Charity that his parents divorced when he was young because his father came out as gay.
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“My dad is now someone 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 weren’t respected,” Brayden told the cameras.
Brayden packed his bags, ready to go on the date.
BARBECUE AND ROSE CEREMONY
Jesse, 44, let the men know that instead of a cocktail, Charity wanted to have a barbecue. During the daytime party, Charity shared a kiss with Dotun, 30, heard Tanner, 30, talk about her hopes of finding her “forever person” and learned how to golf with Sean, 25.
Brayden said he felt ready to go and wanted to talk to Charity about the makeup band date.
“I felt so bad for these guys,” the travel nurse told Charity.
Charity assured Brayden, “It didn’t come from a malicious place.”
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They seemed to work things out, and Charity actually said in an interview that she appreciated Brayden’s honesty because “he doesn’t hold back with me, which is nice.”
But then, when Charity spoke with Adrian, he told her that Brayden called the date “classless.”
“To be called ‘classless’ was just not the word that was used in our conversation,” Charity said.
Related: New Bachelorette Charity Lawson Says Committing Wasn’t the End of It All, Be It ‘All of Her Season (Exclusive)
Charity left the barbecue early and when Jesse informed the men of his departure, they wondered who spoke to him last and what they discussed. Adrian admitted she “asked me about last night” and confessed to dwelling on Brayden’s reaction to the second group date.
Everyone gathered at the rose ceremony.
“I do what I think is best and it doesn’t take anything away from you all,” Charity told 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. were going home.
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the bachelorette airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
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