The Bachelorette star Charity Lawson has revealed what damaged her relationship with Aaron Bryant considering they got off to such a strong start on Season 20.
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Aaron B., a 29-year-old software salesman from San Diego, CA, is one of Charity's Final 4 bachelors on The Bachelorette's twentieth season along with Dotun Olubeko, Joey Graziadei, and Xavier Bonner.
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Aaron B. had received the approval of Charity's older brother Nehemiah Lawson on Night 1, and then the suitor earned himself the first one-on-one date of the season.
Charity felt an early connection with Aaron B. and considered him to be a charmer with husband potential, but then Aaron took it upon himself to step into this "protector" role for The Bachelorette star, bringing drama to Charity's attention and warning her -- multiple times -- about Brayden Bowers' actions in the house.
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"We don't have a lot of time, and so our conversation started to shift just from us growing our connection to now focusing on the Brayden stuff," Charity said on the July 27 episode of the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast, which is co-hosted by Bachelor in Paradise spouses Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt.
"So that's when I was like, 'Okay, we're not getting a whole lot of time,' so I felt like our connection was starting to get to a pause. And then that's where it was concerning for me."
Charity suggested that Aaron B.'s focus on the other guys' behavior came back to bite him because his warnings didn't actually improve or progress their own romance.
"Obviously you see Aaron B. got the first one-on-one of the season. I saw him on the trajectory of truly going all the way, and then it's like, 'I don't know where this [drama talk] is taking us,'" Charity admitted.
"It was kind of confusing for me in that moment, so I will say I don't really appreciate it."
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Charity, however, recalled how she hadn't "necessarily made it clear to the guys" that she wanted them to keep their eyes on the prize and focus on their own relationship.
"But, like, I felt like I reiterated not to bring anything up to me unless it was a severe issue," Charity explained.
"I feel like with this Brayden thing and kind of this feud between him and Aaron B., I didn't really understand it. So I was like, 'What's the point in bringing this up right now?'"
But Charity could tell several weeks in that Brayden's antics were rubbing most of her bachelors the wrong way, not just Aaron B.
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"Obviously it was irritating Aaron B. enough, and I could kind of see -- I was starting to pick up on the energy from the other guys in the house, so that's when I kind of started to focus on it," Charity said.
"But initially, I didn't want that to be the case because I know how it can go; it takes up too much time in the conversation and we don't have all the time in the world."
Charity reiterated how she simply didn't have a lot of time to get to know each guy on the show. With that being said, every minute counted.
It appears Aaron B. was a frontrunner for Charity's heart early in the season but he's been playing catch-up ever since.
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Charity, for example, passed up an opportunity to take Aaron B. out on a one-on-one date in New Orleans, where Aaron B. had lived for a period of time. The city means a lot to Aaron B., and he had been hoping to show Charity around and share meaningful places with her.
Instead, Charity asked Joey out on a date, and she also gave Dotun back-to-back dates.
Aaron B. lamented to the cameras about how he was holding onto something that happened with Charity four weeks prior, which he said actually felt like six months.
Aaron B. told Charity that being apart from her in New Orleans was one of the hardest weeks of his life, but he said his memories with Charity were getting him through the tough parts of the process.
Despite Aaron B.'s tension with Brayden and dwindling connection with Charity, she gave him the last-available rose in New Orleans and told the bachelor that she'd like to meet his family.
The Bachelorette's next episode airs Monday, July 31 at 8PM ET/PT on ABC.
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Click here to read spoilers about Charity's The Bachelorette season and who Charity picked as her winner.
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