The Bachelorette star Charity Lawson had claimed she was in love with both Dotun Olubeko and Joey Graziadei on the show, and now she's revealing if she was truly in love with Joey.
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Charity repeatedly cried about how she felt "torn" and "conflicted" between Dotun and Joey on the August 21 broadcast, and at one point, it seemed as though Charity was hoping her family would just make the decision for her.
But the family and child therapist from Georgia ultimately dumped Joey in second place and picked Dotun as her winner.
"I did have a solid connection with Joey," Charity acknowledged in a joint interview with Dotun on Us Weekly's "Here for the Right Reasons" podcast.
Charity admitted "she can be transparent" with fans and "talk about" her feelings for Joey, although she's now happily engaged to Dotun.
"I think it's kind of helpful we already did all that and worked through that," Charity said.
"But yeah, no, at that point, and honestly looking back on my whole journey, like, I don't want to say I envisioned or I thought it would be them two at the end, but yeah, without a doubt."
She continued, "Where I was at and where I stood with Joey, I definitely was in a place where I did have so much love -- and was in love -- with him."
But Charity pointed out how she and Joey had left their relationship in Fiji and then she gave her heart to Dotun.
"Obviously, once you see us depart, we just kind of make that shift of like, 'I will always have respect and love for you, but that doesn't mean that you're my person and I'm going to continue to be in love with you,'" Charity explained.
"So I think we're just both in great places and I'm obviously wishing him so much success and well wishes on his journey as the Bachelor."
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After America watched Charity crush Joey's heart at the Final Rose Ceremony in Fiji, The Bachelor franchise host Jesse Palmer officially announced Joey as The Bachelor star for Season 28 airing in early 2024.
While Charity's heart was pulling her in different directions throughout her time on The Bachelorette, she revealed that her first one-on-one date with Dotun was "life changing."
And then Charity said she made "the executive decision" that Dotun was The One for her -- now and forever -- after their last-chance date in Fiji.
"Looking back on that... there were just little signs I felt along the way that kind of just gave me these little hints, like, 'Okay, this might be too crazy of a thing. But sometimes a good thing is just a good thing,'" Charity shared.
Once they returned home from the show as an engaged couple, they watched about half The Bachelorette episodes together.
"Most of the episode we were able to watch together in-person, and the other ones that we weren't, we FaceTimed and would still be interacting," Dotun shared.
Dotun said entering the real world was "a huge hurdle" for them to overcome but Charity has managed to keep him grounded and feeling secure in their relationship.
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Dotun and The Bachelorette star's speeches at the Final Rose Ceremony have been compared to wedding vows. They expressed how much they valued, respected and admired each other, and they were both deeply in love.
"With Dotun, it boils down to a feeling you can't really place and you can't really pinpoint; you just have it and it's there, and when it comes together, you feel alive," Charity gushed on the finale of her season.
"I love Dotun, and I see, so clearly, a future with him -- a future that is going to bring me the most happiness."
Charity and Dotun told BachelorNation.com that they hope to have two weddings, one in the United States and one in Nigeria, probably in 2024 or early 2025.
But in the meantime, The Bachelorette couple plan to enjoy each other as a couple and simply grow in love.
To help them on that journey, ABC gifted Charity and Dotun a romantic trip to Greece.
Charity will also be staying in California -- where Dotun lives -- for a while as she competes on Dancing with the Stars' upcoming 32nd season this fall.
"Obviously you see me and Dotun's love story from start to finish, and there was never a doubt that I knew this man was also going to choose me... I felt so reassured in that sense," Charity recently said on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast.
And Charity and Dotun intend to keep choosing each other while Charity is on Dancing with the Stars, which tends to have a grueling and demanding schedule.
Before Joey's season of The Bachelor returns, ABC is premiering Bachelor in Paradise's ninth season as well as The Golden Bachelor starring Gerry Turner on Thursday, September 28 beginning at 8PM ET/PT.
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About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski
