Charity Lawson Defies Brother's Guidance to Make Shocking First Impression Rose Pick in 'The Bachelorette' Premiere

This post contains spoilers from Monday's premiere of The Bachelorette.

Charity Lawson kicked off her season of The Bachelorette on Monday by proving she’ll do exactly what she wants.

Even though things didn’t work out with Zach Shallcross on his season of The Bachelor, Charity, 27, found herself more motivated than ever to find love.

“Zach helped me see that there are guys that are good,” she said in an on-camera interview.

Charity received words of encouragement from former Bachelorettes JoJo Fletcher, Kaitlyn Bristowe, Ali Fedotowsky-Manno and Desiree Hartsock throughout the night and proudly took her place in front of Bachelor Mansion to meet her suitors.

Software salesman Aaron B. stepped out of the limo first and flipped a coin to decide if he stayed and married Charity or if he packed his bags and went home. The coin toss landed in the 29-year-old’s favor, so he headed inside.

Harvard grad Josh, as well as Joey, a tennis pro who lives in Hawaii, continued the arrivals. Then, biomedical scientist Xavier told Charity he hasn’t been able to find the cure to a lonely heart.

Resident physician Caleb A. also made a heart pun after he handed Charity a stethoscope and had her listen to his heart. “That is a heart beating just for you,” Caleb A., 29, said to Charity.

Underwater welder John Henry showed up in a diving mask and told Charity, “I just want to dive in with you.” Tanner from Pittsburgh brought a “Tanner towel,” a play on his hometown NFL team’s Terrible Towel.

World record jumper Chris backflipped for Charity out of the limo, travel nurse Brayden offered up tequila so he and Charity could stay “up to date on our shots” and Spencer struggled to make conversation upon coming face to face with the Bachelorette.

Related: 'The Bachelorette' : Charity's Brother Goes Undercover to Help Her Find Love 'Because Men Can Be Dogs'

“My hobby thing, I’ve been doing a lot of martial arts,” the medical sales director, 32, told Charity. When Charity asked him to show her some moves, Spencer tried to teach Charity how to kick someone in the genitals.

Charity proceeded to meet some very tall men — Kaleb K. and Adrian — and received a charm bracelet from yacht captain Michael. Sean presented a big check to make a donation of his heart to Charity and John gave her a fortune cookie that read, “You will meet the man of your dreams tonight.”

Then host Jesse Palmer informed Charity that another man who she already knew would be arriving. “My heart is beating out my chest,” Charity said to Jesse, 44.

After her brother Nehemiah stepped out of the limo, she breathed a sign of relief.

“That was everything I actually needed,” Charity said.

Nehemiah threw on a disguise and took his post behind the bar, where he hoped to gain intel on his sister’s suitors while posing as a bartender.

Charity followed him inside and gave a toast to the group.

“I cannot wait to get to know you all more tonight,” Charity said. “I remember when I was announced as the Bachelorette, I honestly had so many different emotions running through me. I was terrified and I’m sure you guys are feeling the exact same way, so we’re good. But honestly, I can’t thank you guys enough for putting your lives on hold to see what could be here with me. This is a crazy way to find love, but I know that this process does work. Although my happy ending didn’t happen, I did fall in love and I know that this can work if you truly lean into it.”

Charity began getting to know the men, having conversations with Joey and James — who gave Charity a letter from his mom — and sharing a kiss with Xavier, 27. “He is one I’ve got to keep my eyes on,” Charity told the cameras of Xavier. “That kiss is almost too good to be true, like too good.”

An anxious Spencer revealed to Charity that he has a son. “Is it weird that I fear so much to tell you that?” he asked.

Charity put Spencer at ease. “That’s huge and I know that’s a very important part of your life, so I need to know that and I want to know more,” the child and family therapist said. “I’m sure it’s scary for you, but I’m all ears.”

Charity talked with Bradyen, 24, about their dating histories and they kissed. “Brayden’s a good kisser, a good person, a good all the way around,” she said in an on-camera interview. “He’s good with everything.”

Brayden agreed — and he let everyone know it. He strolled up to the bar and told the group, “I got a kiss!”

That led Nehemiah to think Bradyen had “a huge ego.”

Nehemiah outed himself to the guys — “No wonder this bartender was asking me so many questions about his sister!” Caleb B. said — and then gave Charity his feedback.

Related: See New Bachelorette Charity Lawson Head to Fiji to Find Love in Exclusive First Photos from Her Season

“I’ve heard good things and some interesting things — everything from ‘beautiful,’ ‘gorgeous,’ ‘real-life Disney princess,’” Nehemiah told his sister. “I was very pleasantly surprised by Aaron B. [It] seemed like he was coming from a very, very authentic, genuine place.”

Nehemiah flagged that, Aaron S., however seemed “skeptical of the process.” And he told Charity he found Brayden’s “arrogance” and “cockiness” to be “problematic.”

After hearing that, Charity pulled Brayden to confront him about feeling “overconfident about being here and getting the first impression rose.”

“I honestly felt like we had a really good connection,” Brayden said to Charity. “I mean, I wasn't trying to be cocky, but the kiss that we had was really amazing. It was like, if I was in your shoes and I had that connection, I would’ve given you my first impression rose.”

Charity said the first impression rose “is something that I don’t take lightly.”

“And so for you to share that with my brother about how strongly you feel about our connection for me, it meant a lot,” she continued to Brayden. “So you have every single right to feel that because … yeah, you have truly been a breath of fresh air for me and I feel the exact same way.”

With that, Charity presented Brayden with the first impression rose.

She had even more roses to give out at the rose ceremony. “I truly am just following my gut and my heart,” Charity told the men before she started the process.

Charity gave roses to Aaron B., John, Xavier, Joey, Caleb B., Warwick, Caleb A., Adrian, James, Sean, Michael, Tanner, Dotun, Kaleb K., John Henry, Josh and Spencer.

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The Bachelorette airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

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