The Bachelorette star Charity Lawson has revealed that Zach Shallcross blindsided her with her fourth-place The Bachelor elimination and whether she found closure from that relationship.
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Charity admitted she "did not" see her ouster coming during a recent appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show.
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"Yeah no, I didn't," Charity said with a laugh. "I did not. I will say I was a little blindsided because me and Zach always had, what I felt, was a very honest and open relationship, no matter if it was a challenging conversation to have."
Charity apparently thought Zach was going to give her a signal or a warning sign that their relationship was going to end, but instead, he dumped her at the Rose Ceremony following her hometown date in which he met her family and friends.
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"We both gave each other that space to do [be open]," Charity said.
"But I will acknowledge that at that point in the process, it's almost hard not to be blindsided because he's making difficult decisions. And so I didn't see it coming, but I mean, he had to make an uncomfortable decision that was best for him."
ABC announced Charity as The Bachelorette star for Season 20 during The Bachelor: The Women Tell All special for Season 27 that aired in March.
The Bachelorette's new season already wrapped filming and premieres on Monday, June 26 at 9PM ET/PT on ABC. Spoilers have already begun to leak out about Season 20.
When former American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson asked Charity if she has closure from her breakup with Zach, Charity shared, "We did have an opportunity to talk about that."
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Charity recalled how she wanted answers from Zach about where their relationship went wrong.
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"I asked him what that process was like for him [to] make that decision -- how did he navigate and how did he go about it?" Charity said, referencing how Zach chose to advance Ariel Frenkel, Gabi Elnicki and Kaity Biggar to the Final 3.
"I asked him what was the turning point, you know, where did it go wrong? And he basically reiterated to me that it wasn't anything that went wrong; it was something he honestly struggled [with] and was going back and forth all day before that Rose Ceremony and he just had to make a decision."
Charity admitted that wasn't exactly what she wanted to hear, noting, "For me, I was like, 'I don't know if that makes me feel better.'"
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But Charity pointed out that "at least" Zach acknowledged what he was going through pre-Rose Ceremony.
On The Women Tell All, Zach had told Charity that he thought the world of her and letting her go in fourth place was "hands down one of the hardest things" he had to do all season. Zach said he just needed to follow his heart and make a decision that would sit well with him.
Following her stint on The Bachelor, Charity hoped her suitors on The Bachelorette would always be honest and candid with her throughout the process about how they were feeling.
"I think I'm very expressive. I wear my heart on my sleeve. I don't mind feeling my emotions, so I think for me, that will be an advantage in a sense that I hope it cultivates a space for the guys to also reciprocate that back to me," Charity explained.
The initial The Bachelorette cast for Season 20 comprised of only 29 potential suitors was announced in late March, right before Charity began filming her season, but ABC has yet to formally announce Charity's official cast of bachelors.
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Zach recently told Us Weekly that he believes Charity is going to "kill it" as The Bachelorette star.
"She knows what she wants. She is so confident, she's so sweet and, you know, she has a great heart," Zach shared. "She's someone from the very beginning that -- I don't know what exactly it was -- but [she] was just trustworthy."
Two of Zach's Final 3 bachelorettes, Ariel and Gabi, also recently expressed how they think Charity is going to shine and "crush it" on The Bachelorette.
"I am so ready [for love]. I think I'm even more ready... I'm excited," Charity expressed.
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