‘The Bachelorette’ Charity Lawson on ‘Advocating’ for Herself as Fourth Black Woman on Franchise: ‘To Be in This Role Was Huge’
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When “The Bachelorette” returns on Monday night with its milestone 20th season, the franchise will continue to make history with leading lady Charity Lawson.
Lawson is the fourth Black woman on the long-running dating series, following Rachel Lindsay (who starred in Season 13 in 2017), Tayshia Adams (Season 16, 2020) and Michelle Young (Season 18, 2021). Over the years, “The Bachelor” has faced criticism for its lack of diversity but has pledged to increase its efforts, which have been seen on-screen in recent seasons.
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As the star of a primetime network show whose love story will be broadcast to millions, Lawson doesn’t take her role lightly.
“I found myself really advocating a lot for my needs or my concerns as a Bachelorette,” Lawson tells Variety. “Being [a] woman of color, but the second monoracial Black woman, to be in this role was huge. They are making strides slowly but surely.”
Lawson says she was vocal with producers about the types of conversations she wanted to have on-air, speaking with her suitors candidly about race. She also spoke up behind the scenes about fostering a comfortable and equitable set, including having the proper hair-and-makeup artists.
“Just being able to vocalize my needs, but also them having understanding and growing in awareness of what that will look like for me has been good,” Lawson says.
“The Bachelor” franchise is in a mode of transition and looking toward its next chapter after the exit of longtime host Chris Harrison, who left in 2021 after a 19-year stint following a racial insensitivity scandal. More recently, creator Mike Fleiss departed earlier this year after an HR investigation into his behavior, including allegations of racial discrimination. (This season is the first to air without Fleiss on board.) Now, “The Bachelor” and “Bachelorette” are hosted by the affable Jesse Palmer, and the franchise is gaining new momentum with its latest spinoff, the upcoming “Golden Bachelor,” which will focus on a cast of senior citizen singles this fall.
But first, Lawson will get her time in the spotlight as she searches for love on TV as “The Bachelorette.” (Spoiler alert: she tells us she is happy with how her season ends.)
When did you wrap filming your season?
We wrapped mid-spring, April or May — around that timeframe.
In the one to two months that have passed, you’ve had to stay in a bubble to avoid spoilers. What has life been like for you?
It’s been good. Being the Bachelorette is being busy. It’s also just trying to get acclimated, obviously away from filming, and getting back to your routine. I’m really excited for this truly to come out for the whole world to see. I’ve been trying to come to terms with that.
I know that you’re not going to reveal how this all ends, but would you say that you are happy now?
I will say I’m happy with how the season turns out.
What was the most difficult part of the season for you?
Wow, so many things. It was really tricky once we got to Fiji — around Fantasy Suites, it became really, really emotional in so many ways. But also even before then, just me having to like address things and — you see a little bit in the promos — me putting my big girl pants on and handling business. That was not necessarily difficult for me, but I’m just a person who really doesn’t like confrontation that much, but I will absolutely do it if I have to.
Sitting here today, do you feel like you made the right decision at the end of the season?
Yeah. I’ll say I am happy with how I handled myself. I’m happy with getting to the point of reaching and making important decisions.
Being the Bachelorette comes with a major platform. There has been an ongoing conversation about the diversity efforts with “The Bachelor” franchise. What sort of discussions did you have behind the scenes with producers to ensure that your story was the one that you wanted to be told?
I found myself really advocating a lot for my needs or my concerns as a Bachelorette. Being [a] woman of color, but the second monoracial Black woman, to be in this role was huge. They are making strides slowly but surely. Stepping into this role, it comes with a lot of different factors that are not necessarily always on the radar — whether that’s me bringing up key things that I wanted to openly discuss in conversations with the men, like important conversations about race, that’s something that I really pitched out a lot to the producers. And then also just my needs behind the scenes — whether or not I need this type of makeup or I need my hair styled this way, like this is how I need my hair treated and it’s not the same as what it would be for someone else. So just being able to vocalize my needs, but also them having understanding and growing in awareness of what that will look like for me has been good.
Did you get any say over the final edit, or will you be watching as everybody is watching?
I will be watching this right with everybody. So that’s gonna be fun.
There’s no nerves with that at all.
No nerves at all [laughs]. We’re cool.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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