The child and family therapist's journey for love has begun!
Charity Lawson is dishing on the season premiere of The Bachelorette. In an interview with ET's Denny Directo, the child and family therapist broke down the biggest moments from the start of her journey for love.
The episode began with Charity explaining what she wants out of the show, namely a relationship like her parents, who have been married for 48 years.
"I take away so much from what my parents have modeled and how they view love," she told ET. "... I have seen my parents' resilience throughout their marriage, their sacrifice, just their commitment in every single day, just the simple act of love being a choice."
"It's not always going to be an easy journey, but... navigating this challenge and seeing my parents do that has really just instilled in me that this is also promising for me," Charity added. "... It gives me the most hope."
Things got off to a good start when Aaron B. stepped out of the limo, and only continued on an upward trajectory when "hopeless romantic" Joey brought Charity a flower from Hawaii, where he currently resides.
"Joey is just someone who's super genuine, also someone who gave me ease that night. The conversation never felt forced," Charity told ET. "I loved his like limo entrance. It was sincere, it was really thoughtful, creative... I thought that was nice and refreshing."
When science nerd Xavier told Charity he was in search of "the cure to a lonely heart," the Bachelorette swooned.
"It was instant," she said. "Me and Xavier's chemistry right off the bat was insane."
Things took a bit of an awkward turn when Spencer stepped out of the limo, with Charity admitting, "I did not know what was happening. I'm just gonna be very real... I think I had a delayed reaction in the moment."
The final man out of the limo was Dotun, whom Charity said she "was truly captivated" by.
"Him just giving me his background story of how he got to the show and how everything just kind of seemed to align in a moment for him to be here was insane," she said. "And so, I was like, 'Yeah, I want to know more.' It was very compelling and captivating... The way he talks, it's hard not to be drawn in."
Before Charity headed inside, there was one more person for her to greet -- her brother, Nehemiah. While Charity thought her older sibling was just there to show his support, he was actually on the set to don a disguise and spy for his sister.
"The wig and mustache, are you kidding?" Charity joked to ET of her brother's disguise. "... The mustache was insane. The wig also, I cannot."
After delivering a toast to the men, Charity began her one-on-one conversations. She felt "butterflies" with Joey and was delighted when James gave her a letter from his mom and treats from their farm.
"I think with James, you see the apple cider from his family's farm, that was super sweet," she said, before calling it "one of the more intimate moments of the night."
The first kiss of the night went to Xavier, and after the fact, Charity told the cameras that the smooch felt "almost too good to be true."
"That's why I was like, 'Yeah, I gotta watch this,'" she told ET. "'Cause sometimes you can get caught up in that, in this whole chemistry, so we need more than that."
John also got a kiss from the Bachelorette, though she had to be the one to initiate the intimate moment.
"With John, I kind of had to initiate a little bit. He was definitely a little nervous and I was like you know what, bless his heart, but I'm gonna do this one time," she said. "Next time you've got to do it... I don't mind being the leader. "
In between the conversations, the men tried to show off for Charity by doing backflips and wrestling moves.
"The backflip thing, I was like, 'OK, high energy. Can I match it? It's literally a circus," she admitted. "... They were pulling all the tricks out and definitely did have me swooning a little bit, I will say."
An anxious Spencer got his time with Charity next, and he used the opportunity to tell her that he has a son.
"It's not a deal breaker for me," Charity told ET of dating a man with a child. "I kind of came in with [the mindset that] the right person could be a father and what would that look like in my life? I wouldn't know right off the bat, but that would be a conversation... I did appreciate his vulnerability already off the bat. It was a lot on night one, but it was definitely something that I took in consideration and I was eager to hear more."
The good times continued as Aaron B. played piano for Charity, which she counted as her favorite moment of the night.
"I'm just a music person too, so I was like, 'Oh my gosh. You can play an instrument. Yay! I love this,'" she said.
Then came Charity's conversation with Brayden, during which he opened up about being cheated on in the past, something she's experienced too.
"I was able to kind of see his heart, appreciate him for being here," she said. "It's scary, especially when you go through something like that in a relationship, to open yourself back up, especially like this show. I did resonate a lot with that."
There was an "ease" that came with their conversation that made everything feel "effortless," Charity said.
"The conversation just flowed. It was a good feeling to have, considering how many nerves I was having that night and how chaotic it is," she said. "When you sit down with someone and you feel that peace, that's really good."
When Brayden left his sit-down with Charity, though, he headed over to the bar where he bragged about kissing the Bachelorette. Unbeknownst to Brayden, he was doing so in front of Charity's brother, who was in disguise as a bartender.
Hearing those comments, and Brayden's certainty that he'd nab the first impression rose, did not signal good things from Nehemiah's point of view, who called the travel nurse "confident trending to arrogant."
After revealing his true identity with the men, Nehemiah sat down with Charity to discuss his findings.
"I think it was more nervous, because when he pulled me to talk [he said he] heard some good things and some interesting things. Of course, my mind goes straight to, 'Oh god, there's people here who shouldn't be here,'" Charity said. "[I was] thinking the worst... I really was thriving, so then I'm like, 'What are you about to do now?'"
Nehemiah told Charity he was "pleasantly surprised" by Aaron B., and revealed that Aaron S. said he was skeptical of the process. Charity wasn't bothered by that reveal, but when Nehemiah said that Brayden "boldly crossed that line from confidence to arrogance, cockiness," she was less than pleased.
Charity sat down with Brayden to talk things over, and he explained that he "wasn't trying to be cocky," but felt that the "kiss we had was amazing," so he was experiencing "giddy" feelings.
"Sitting down with Brayden and hearing his side of it is kind of how I interpret the situation initially. Braydon's just really excited. He's happy. Also taking into consideration his age -- he's a little younger -- so I was like, 'This is probably just the way he expresses his emotions,'" Charity said of her 24-year-old suitor. "… It's a very thin line, like, 'OK, don't get too cocky. It's night one. Relax, there's other men here too.' But also, I did appreciate how excited he was."
Charity made her appreciation known when she awarded Brayden the first impression rose.
"It boiled down to how I felt in the moment of, 'Who is gonna be able to bring me a level of comfort throughout this night?' And Brayden did it," Charity explained of her decision, before revealing how she thinks Nehemiah would feel about her choice.
"My brother's giving me a heads up about Brayden, but he wasn't anti-Brayden. I think he supported wherever my heart was leaning for and he definitely could see why I was starting to fall for Brayden," she said. "... I think he respected that and understood that... I think at the end of the day he definitely trusts whatever decisions I make."
Even so, Charity said she did take her brother's advice to heart.
"But I also wanted to just remember that I am my own person and I'm capable of making my own decisions. I didn't want to just like, 'Oh, my brother said he needs to go. That just must be the end all be all,'" she said. "... I think after night one I was like, 'OK I'm gonna take his insight and utilize it or pull it back out when I need to.' But I think I trusted my gut for the most part."
She did just that during the rose ceremony, asking Aaron B., John, Xavier, Joey, Caleb B., Warwick, Aaron S., Caleb A., Adrian, James, Sean, Michael, Tanner, Duton, Kaleb K., John Henry, Josh and Spencer to stay on for another week.
"I feel really good about what's to come," she told her men. As for what's to come on her journey, Charity told ET, "I'm happy with how the season turns out."
Watch Charity Lawson's journey for love on season 20 of The Bachelorette, which airs Mondays on ABC. Stay up to date on all the drama by following along with ET's coverage of the series.
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