The Bachelorette star Charity Lawson has revealed what made Joey Graziadei so special and why he ultimately made it to her finale.
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Charity still has Joey, Dotun Olubeko, and possibly still Aaron Bryant in the running for her heart on The Bachelorette's twentieth season, which airs its finale on Monday, August 21 with a special three-hour episode on ABC.
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Viewers have yet to learn whether Charity welcomed Aaron B. back into the competition after Fantasy Suite dates, but The Bachelorette star appeared to have no doubt in her mind or heart about Joey and Dotun, both of whom she was "in love" with during her final days in Fiji.
"When I look at Joey and Dotun -- two stand-up, incredible guys, and our connections are very different but also have very similar core characteristics," Charity shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
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"Joey is just someone who is extremely sincere and just patient and really loving. He has a compassionate heart."
Charity continued of her final bachelors, "I was rest assured with Dotun and Joey that I didn't have to worry about [them being on the show for the wrong reasons] at all, and so I was able to continue growing our connections."
Charity now has some extremely difficult decisions to make as her The Bachelorette journey nears its conclusion.
"How did I navigate getting to the end?" The Bachelorette star teased with a laugh. "You just have this gut feeling of knowing when something is right and what feels best, and you can't really shake it."
Last month, Charity said on the "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast how her chemistry with Joey was apparent.
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"Me and Joey's connection continuously grows at a very consistent and good rate. It's not too quickly," Charity shared with the podcast's co-hosts, Bachelor in Paradise spouses Joe Amabile and Serena Pitt.
"It's not like we [were ever] trailing behind. And I feel like, for me and him, obviously [our date in New Orleans] was another turning point in our relationship... He has a pure heart.. He's just a rock!"
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She said Joey's openness captivated her and she thought she was getting "the full Joey" every time she saw him, shutting down his Uncle Joe's hometown-date concerns about Joey's authenticity.
Charity also recalled how she and the 27-year-old tennis pro from Koloa, HI, were able to have "a very important conversation" surrounding interracial dating.
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When looking back on that conversation, Charity told EW in her new interview, "It's huge to have had the opportunity to have that conversation, and then for it to be aired on national television -- we don't see it a lot, especially in this franchise."
"It was something that I was a little nervous about because I just did not know how it was going to go," she continued.
"But my whole plan of being a Black woman in this lead role is having these important conversations. Also, there were conversations that I had with several other men that did not make air, and that's okay."
But Charity insisted talking about race and her role as a Black woman in society was one of her "priorities" this season, and she added, "That's extremely important to me and that would essentially become a very important part of their lives, too, if they ended up with me."
Early in the process, Charity gushed about how Joey made her feel safe and seen. She said the bachelor always managed to sweep her off her feet.
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Charity called Joey's energy "infectious" and said she craved more of him when they were apart.
"This man could be my husband, and I see a forever future with him," Charity told the cameras.
And Joey, in turn, could "see a finish line with her," especially after she met his family.
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During their Fantasy Suite date, Charity and Joey said, "I love you," to each other, and when Charity had to say goodbye to the bachelor the morning after their date, Charity cried because she didn't want him to go.
Charity said Joey was "the definition of a perfect person, the person I've prayed for," and she surprisingly called their love "eternal."
Click here to read spoilers about Charity's The Bachelorette season and who Charity picked as her winner.
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