Bachelorette host Jesse Palmer is full of surprises this week, including someone joining Dancing with the Stars, an audience member joining the next season of The Bachelor — and, oh yeah, who is the next Bachelor?
Charity Lawson’s journey as The Bachelorette hasn’t had a lot of unexpected twists and turns, though Aaron flying to Fiji for a second chance definitely qualifies, but Jesse Palmer more than made up for it in this live finale.
The host filled tonight’s three-hour extravaganza with lots of surprises and reveals that kept the audience on their toes. This included Charity picking her winner, of course. But there is also someone joining Dancing with the Stars, someone from the audience joining The Bachelor, the reveal of said Bachelor — and one more cryptic twist.
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But before we can get to what’s coming next, we need to finish up what’s gone before and help Charity wrap her journey. Honestly, we’re surprised she didn’t call us up for advice on what she should do. She certainly was hoping her mom would tell her!
Props to Mama Vickie for standing firm and making it clear to Charity that she wasn’t going to help her at all. This was Charity’s journey for love and the only one who could make this final decision was Charity. It’s either that, or see if the boys are interested in polygamy.
Charity's Final 2
You could meme Joey’s reaction at the Rose Ceremony when he figured out what was going on. Aaron had flown to Fiji as the dramatic close of the last episode, but did Charity welcome him with open arms? Well, she didn’t slam the door in his face.
It didn’t help that Xavier’s infidelity reveal had her questioning sending Aaron home even more. Had she kept him over Xavier, they might have been in a different position. As it stands, Aaron did not get a Fantasy Suite and she’d not declared her love for him. Both happened with Joey and Dotun.
Nevertheless, she felt she owed it to Aaron to hear him out, so they had an impromptu date in her hotel room to chat and see how far things could progress. That’s why Joey was so meme-worthy when he looked down and saw Aaron there.
On top of Aaron being suddenly back, neither Joey nor Dotun had known that she’d kicked Xavier to the curb at Fantasy Suites. They went from sure things as the FInal 2 to suddenly facing off against a guy who’d already been eliminated.
In the end, though, it didn’t matter. The progress and time she’d had with Joey and Dotun could not be overcome by one conversation, so Aaron had to say goodbye again. She did leave poor Dotun seating up there rose-less while she said goodbye, though. Savage!
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Tell Me What to Do
With her final two settled, it was time to meet the parents; in this case referring to Charity’s parents, Vickie and David, and her sister Mia. Hilariously, David seemed the easiest one to get along with. If they could talk sports with him, they were a-okay in his book.
Vickie and Mia were a little more discerning. Joey came in first, and right away, he was so relaxed and confident with the family, quickly putting them at ease. He was candid, forthcoming and honest about his feelings for Charity and what mattered to him.
We were right there with Mia in being pleased and impressed that he just came right out and asked her how she felt about an interracial relationship. These can be uncomfortable conversations to have, but they are important. And Joey is so respectful in how he approaches them.
Suffice to say, the whole family was more than smitten with Joey, ready to invite him into their family. He did light up in a way that was so sweet to see while interacting with all of them.
When it came time for Dotun’s turn, he was much more reserved. He was also very sincere and forthcoming and sweet, but just a bit more stoic and “professional” in his demeanor. This did not endear him quite as much to the family as Joey, but they didn’t really want to say that.
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Well, Mia did say something about Charity having more of a glow when she was with Joey, but she also said that Dotun made her laugh more and harder. Poor Charity was so roadblocked, she couldn’t decide, and seemed to be looking to her family not just to kick her into gear, but kind of push her in one direction.
To her credit, Vickie very lovingly and very firmly refused to do it, even as it upset her daughter to no end. Charity almost had a full-on temper tantrum, pleading with her mother to give her something, but Vickie wouldn’t do it. Secretly, she was leaning more Joey, but after one afternoon, who is she to say?
Ultimately, as she kept telling Charity, this was her decision to make, for right or wrong. If Vickie makes it for her, or even weighs in, suddenly what happens good or bad is in some small way on her, too. Charity needs to know this was her decision alone. Vickie also believed that deep down inside, Charity knows, too.
We have to imagine she did, too, because we’ve had a feeling from almost the beginning based on observing all of her interactions and interviews from the outside. If we could see it in her, how did she have so much doubt and fear she couldn’t see it in herself. Or did we just answer our own question?
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Heartbreak & Euphoria
Jesse is good at hyperbole, but he was on the money with how brutally heartbreaking this final breakup was. The audience even gasped as Charity said how hard it was going to be to say goodbye to this amazing guy … and Joey’s shoes were shown.
Joey had been so confident all night. They were in love, they were so perfect together, this was going to be the ending to their fairy tale story. He had the ring, he was ready to propose. And then it all fell apart and he took it with such grace and poise, never losing sight of her feelings and heartache.
Joey is a class act all the way, and it’s easy to see why her family fell in love with him so quickly, and why Charity fell in love with him. This was truly a case of Joey having done nothing wrong. There was just a stronger connection.
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That left Dotun, the guy she’s had this connection with since the very beginning. Their relationship has just been so easy from the very beginning, as if they’d aleady known each other for years and years.
This is one of those endings that’s both heartbreaking and wonderful because both of these final two guys are really great guys. Joey absolutely deserved his shot at happiness, but so did Dotun. It was going to be brutal either way, and this journey didn’t go Joey’s way.
Bonus shout-out to whomever decided to put Charity on a box for her post-engagement interview with Dotun so they could be standing closer together in height. It was ridiculous and obvious and we’re glad you at least owned it and pointed it out yourselves.
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Jesse Palmer's Bag of Surprises
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Bachelor in Paradise: Aaron may not have gotten a Rose from Charity, but he is getting a consolation prize of getting to go to BiP, where he’ll be joined by all kinds of Bachelor Nation favorites.
Pre-Honeymoon: After seeing Charity lament that she didn’t get to pick her travel destinations during her season, and saying she would have liked to go to Greece, Jesse (and the show) hooked them up with a trip there as a pre-honeymoon of sorts.
Dancing with the Stars: Joining Ariana Madix on the upcoming season, returning to ABC, Dotun got to surprise his fiancée by telling Charity that she would be joining the cast this season … which is apparently something she’d been wanting and hoping. Is this going to be every Bachelorette now?
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The Next Bachelor: It could have been anyone from Charity’s season or even past seasons. But the show didn’t dig too deep into its own archives. Based on the audience reaction to his rejection, we suspect Joey Graziadei will do just fine as the Bachelor. He even got a head start.
First Bachelor Contestant: Teased all night, Jesse revealed that one lucky member of the audience was going to be joining Joey on his journey to find love. We met a couple along the way, but in the end it was Hawai’ian native Lea who got the nod. She handled herself well enough on the big stage chatting with Joey, who did a great job of keeping her calm.
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Bachelor Mysterious Envelope: For his last trick of the night, Jesse handed Lea an envelope he promised would change everything. So is it for her or for the whole season? We’ll have to wait until Night One of The Bachelor to find out as he told her she could not open it until then.
The Golden Bachelor: This one wasn’t so much a trick or surprise from Jesse, but at this point, any glimpse into the upcoming season of The Golden Bachelor just makes us smile. Gerry Turner is just the sweetest man and we love the support he’s getting from his family.
Oh, we suppose there was one big reveal related to his journey. We got Gerry’s premiere date, and it looks like The Golden Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise are going back-to-back with both of them premiering on September 28.
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"Mansion" Chatter
- “I would love to stay and have more time with you because there’s a lot more that I’ve been wanting to show you. I want to be protective, I want to be in your corner regardless of any decision you make. I want to put out there that that’s why I’m here, and I’m willing [sic] for any risk because you’re worth it, Charity.” –Aaron
- “I recognize the effort he has put into coming all the way here. That’s not a small effort, like, that is a grand gesture. But at this point, my fear is, can we get there?” –Charity (in DR)
- “Aaron, can you come with me?” –Charity (at Rose Ceremony)
- “You just gave me hope for what my wife even looked like.” –Aaron (to Charity after getting eliminated)
- “I don’t think he’s coming back, dude. I think that was a goodbye.” –Joey (to Dotun)
- “For Charity, decisiveness is a word she’s gonna have to really get comfortable with in life.” –Vickie (in DR after Charity said she’s in love with both guys)
- “I think it makes her feel good about the fact that I can say I’m in love with two people. In reality, she has to understand, you can’t put them on the same scale. At the end of the day, you gotta make a choice.” –Vickie (in DR)
- “To be honest, coming into this, I think she is thinking of choosing me as the person she wants to be with.” –Joey (in DR)
- “I really do feel like I’m at a place where I have the two best people, but—” –Charity (to Mia)
- “There’s still a choice.” –Mia
- “That’s the choice.” –Charity
- “Joey fits in with our family just fine. Yeah, I think Joey could be the one. Yeah.” –Vickie (in DR)
- “My fear is that I can’t make a decision, or won’t be able to at all.” –Charity (in DR)
- “I’m excited to meet Dotun. I wanna see this second person that you’re in love with.” –Mia (to Charity)
- “I would say his confidence, his swag, he’s familiar. Charity has a type of man that she very well tends to gravitate to and Dotun is that type of person. And anytime something is very familiar, that’s easy.” –Vickie (in DR)
- “Go with your heart. Go with your gut.” –Vickie (to Charity)
- “My gut doesn’t exist right now.” –Charity
- It does. It does. You probably want to deny the fact that it does.” –Vickie
- “I did not expect to be here with two people. I thought it would be so clear.” –Charity (in DR)
- “I don’t want to do the comparison thing.” –Vickie (to Charity)
- “Why, because you think it will be too much for me to handle?” –Charity
- “Pretty much.” –Vickie
- “Joey is special. Who he is and what he embodies I have never encountered, and I can’t envision myself walking away from him.” –Charity (in DR)
- “He deserves so much. But I have to let him go. I don’t know how I’m gonna do this.” –Charity
- “Charity, I’ve told you time and time again through this journey how I’ve felt like it’s your story and I would just be lucky to be a part of it, whether it was that first kiss we shared in LA — something I know we will both never forget — even that day we had in New Orleans that just felt perfect in so many ways, and I just knew that I was falling in love with you. I keep thinking back to that poem that we had created and how much it made us realize how real our feelings were for one another. There’s one line in particular that I think back to that says, ‘I sink into you without thinking / It’s so easy I’m scared.’ To me, that just means it’s okay to lean into how uncomfortable this feels, even though it’s scary. And I stand here now very confident that it hasn’t just been your story, it’s turned into our own beautiful love story that we can look back on and be confident in. And I really just can’t wait to see what comes next.” –Joey
- “Joey, this journey with you has been far more than I could have ever asked for, and when I think and look at our love, it is so special, it’s rare, and people spend their whole lives looking for something like this. When I look into your eyes, I’m reminded of how you always put me first and you’ve been very consistent in the love that you’ve shown and those things I’ve never experienced before. I never doubted, never questioned how deep our love is. I know it’s there and I feel it. But … as crazy as it sounds, I’ve found love that’s deeper with someone else. ANd it won’t make sense in this moment and it’s hard— it’s hard to get these words out because the truth is, Joey, that I am in love with you. I know that we’ve always remind each other how deserving of how much love we both need and want. My love for you is truly never going to go your way. I want your happiness. I don’t even want to think about the fact that our story ends today, but I’m truly broken. I know this is hard for you.” –Charity
- “I just want you to be happy, that’s all. And this is one step closer to you being happy.” –Joey
- “The fact that that was the last time we spoke to each other feels wrong, but I understand why. I’m just excited to be here right now to have some conversation about how I feel now or what this was like.” –Joey (with nothing but love for Charity live)
- “Charity, there is so much that we’ve experienced from our very first kiss at the mansion — where I was just like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m going for it’ — all the way to conquering our fears 200 feet in the air, running through New Orleans, and most importantly, falling in love. You have been able to make me feel so incredibly special. You’ve made me feel adored and validated and wanted and to receive that from a woman of your caliber, Charity, I don’t think you’ll ever understand what that means to me. But I’m certain that I want to spend the rest of my life showing you, one hundred percent. I just want you to know that I am fully committed to you as you stand here in front of me, and I wouldn’t change a thing about you.” –Dotun
- “I’ve always said that being here and being along this journey has taught me that one conversation can change everything. When I think of that moment and when I think of you, it takes me back to Ocean Side when we shared that incredibly special moment that changed my life, truly forever. When I looked in your eyes in that moment, I saw a man that respected me, that valued me, that adored me, but a man that I could love forever. You have made me feel alive, you’ve made me believe in love again, you’ve made me feel so valued and so seen, and so, Dotun, when I stand here in this moment, I want a forever future with you. I see you as my husband, I see you as my future. I see it so clear. I don’t have any doubts. I don’t question it. And I love you so much. So much.” –Charity
- “How ready do you feel like you are to turn the page and give love another shot?
- “I’m more ready than I was in that moment. For me, it was just you have to take some time to get a little bit more closure. Watching Dotun and Charity’s connection was enough for me. I’ve got so much love for that dude, and obviously for her completely as well. It was just nice to be able to see someone so special be with her. And that in general gave me a lot more ability to separate myself from it, appreciate it for what it was, but truthfully, you know, most of all it opened up something in me that I wanted so bad. So I’m at this point now where I prioritized something in my life I put on the back-burner for a while, and I’m ready to prioritize it again.” –Joey
The Golden Bachelor and Bachelor in Paradise both kick off on September 28.
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