‘The Bachelorette’: Charity Lawson, Fiancé Dotun Olubeko On Watching Back Their Engagement, ‘Dancing With The Stars,’ & More — Q&A

Katie Campione
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SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the season finale of ABC’s The Bachelorette.

Charity Lawson can finally tell the world she’s an engaged woman!

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Audiences watched Lawson say yes to Dotun Olubeko’s proposal during Monday’s Season 20 finale of The Bachelorette. While the 3-hour episode ended with a happily ever after, there were certainly some bumps in the road along the way.

After sending Aaron back home, Lawson was still incredibly torn between Olubeko and Joey Graziadei (a fan favorite who has since been tapped as the next Bachelor). Looking to her family for advice, Lawson was left frustrated when they refused to break down the pros and cons of each man with her. Instead, her mother remained steadfast in her belief that this choice could only be made by Lawson. Looking back, Lawson tells Deadline she’s “very, very happy” that her mom didn’t try to sway her decision, though that didn’t curb her frustration in the moment.

Here’s a full recap of the Bachelorette finale.

Lawson spoke with Deadline more about how she felt in those moments making her final decision, what it’s like to be public with her engagement, and how she’s preparing to compete on Dancing With The Stars this fall. Read the interview below.

DEADLINE: How does it feel to finally be able to talk publicly about your relationship?

CHARITY LAWSON: We’re free at last. We are so excited. It’s a moment that we both have been anticipating since we left Fiji on that day [and] being in hiding over the last few months. It is just an exciting, overwhelming time, but in the best way. We’re just excited to just live now, and everyone knows. No more secrets.

DEADLINE: Is there anything in particular you’re looking forward to about going public?

DOTUN OLUBEKO: Just really the simple things. I mean, there’s gonna be a lot of opportunities down the road that we’re excited for, and we love living life and new opportunities and new experiences. But it’s the little things like going out to dinner last night, being in the same Uber, walking the streets. So we’re just happy to have that back and then be able to take our relationship into what we call ‘the real world.’ So that’s we’re looking forward to. It’s gonna be a good time.

DEADLINE: How were you feeling watching your proposal back on Monday night?

OLUBEKO: It was really emotional. It put me back in the same place — tears, lip quivering. Obviously, I haven’t seen it since that day, and I knew that was a powerful moment for us. But to watch it back, like there’s just something about it that’s just so special. I just think it encapsulates the love that we grew to have on the show and continue to have, so it was really emotional and heartfelt and a really sincere moment for both of us.

DEADLINE: Charity, we saw you get a bit upset with your mom when you were struggling with who to choose. Now that there’s some time separating you from that moment, have you reflected on those feelings?

LAWSON: Obviously [there was] a lot of emotions in that episode, and honestly, watching it back put me back there. But now that I’ve had so much time…I am very, very happy that my mom didn’t just straight up say [her thoughts] and she let me come to terms of what was best for me. I think I am very overwhelmed at that moment, because there’s just so many things at play and so many factors going on. I was very emotionally, physically and mentally exhausted. So I think I was just pleading almost just like, ‘Someone just rescue me.’ I don’t know. So that’s kind of the struggle that I am having with my mom, but my mom…gives tough love at times. That was a moment where she really did just zone in on that, and she was like, ‘I refuse to budge in this sense. You are capable of making a choice. I believe in you and no matter what, we support you and we love you.’

DEADLINE: Going into AFR, was there anything you were nervous about?

LAWSON: Probably watching the breakup, because I hadn’t seen it at that point. So knowing had to watch that and then eventually come out and have that closure conversation. But it wasn’t even a closure conversation, really. Me and Joey are both in fantastic spots, and so we’re just wishing the best for each other. That was probably the only thing that there was a little bit of like, ‘Oh, I don’t really know how this is gonna go.’ But the finale was perfect. I got over that hurdle and then just got to be free with my man.

DEADLINE: Dotun, how did it come about that you’d be the one to tell Charity she’s going to be on Dancing with the Stars?

OLUBEKO: We knew it was a possibility for a while but had not received confirmation. They broke it to me backstage at AFR and told me that she was certainly going to be on it. They wanted me to let her know, so I knew a few hours beforehand. I’d seen her, and I kept my lips shut up until Jesse prompted me to reveal it to her. So it was a really special moment for us.

DEADLINE: How hard was it to keep that secret?

OLUBEKO: Yeah, I teased it a little bit. I was like, ‘Maybe I know something.’ She was like, ‘What is it? What is it?’ Yeah, I wanted to just put it out as soon as I found out, because I knew how excited she would be.

DEADLINE: Charity, how are you feeling about going on the show?

LAWSON: I’m obviously very excited. But if I’m being honest, I’m a little nervous, because I’m not coming in with a whole lot of dance background, which is the point — that’s the base of the show. I have a little bit of a cheer experience. I cheered growing up. So I have that, coming into this. But I’m excited. I think it’s going to be very challenging in so many ways. Like, physically, I’ll be in the best shape of my life, but also just like learning a whole new set of skills and learning techniques from ballroom dancing. I think it’s going to be so fun. So I’m extremely looking forward to it, and I’m glad that Dotun will be by my side. He can’t wait. He’s super excited.

DEADLINE: I’m sure we’ll see Dotun cheering you on in the audience.

OLUBEKO: And hearing me! I’ll be screaming.

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