When was Charity’s season of ‘The Bachelorette’ filmed?
Olivia House Charity Lawson was announced as the star of The Bachelorette season 20 during “The Women Tell All” special episode of The Bachelor, which aired on March 14, 2023.
Recommended VideosThe 20th season of The Bachelorette, featuring Lawson, began filming in late March 2023, Reality Steve reported in the March 23 episode of the Reality Steve Podcast. In fact, on March 22, Lawson spoke with Entertainment Tonight after the first night of the season when she met all of her suitors and said it was a “good one.”
“I’m a little giddy,” she continued. “Definitely smitten. I have a good batch of boys… I was laughing the whole night.” Filming for the season took place over the next several weeks and wrapped in early May, as Lawson returned to social media on May 7. The Bachelorette lead posted on Instagram a series of photos of herself lounging in a bikini and the caption, “poolside reflecting on the last few weeks…overflowing with gratitude.”
Where was Charity Lawson’s season of The Bachelorette filmed?
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Lawson’s season of The Bachelorette kicked off at the familiar location of the Bachelor Mansion. The gorgeous home, also known as Villa de la Vina, is located in the Santa Monica Mountains in Malibu, California, and is coincidentally also available to rent on Airbnb for a cool $6,000 a night.
The first three weeks of The Bachelorette season 20 were filmed in California, including Lawson’s first one-on-one date. Aaron Bryant was the lucky contestant picked for the first one-on-one, and the couple headed up to the Hollywood sign before attending a private concert in Los Angeles. Lawson’s second one-on-one date was also in California as she chose Brayden Bowers for a date at Petco Park in San Diego.
The group date for that week was a Barbie-themed date in Oceanside, California, where the hopeful men (all dressed as a different Ken) had to create and perform a song for Lawson to the tune of Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
After spending the first few weeks in California, The Bachelorette lead and her 10 remaining guys left the Golden State for the chilly and picturesque Pacific Northwest. The group headed to Stevenson, Washington, where Dotun Olubeko was picked for an adrenaline-fueled one-on-one date as he and Lawson went bungee jumping. The second one-on-one date that week takes place in the town of Stevenson, where Lawson and Xavier Bonner take part in some local activities.
The 5th episode of the season headed back to warmer weather as the six remaining men and Lawson made their way down to New Orleans, Louisiana. Joey Graziadei was picked for a one-on-one date, which saw the couple take a romantic carriage ride through the bustling streets of the Big Easy. Lawson also made a trip to the bayou for her two-on-one date that week. Her second one-on-one date, again with Olubeko, saw the couple take part in a “fun run” through the streets of the city.
Lawson will continue to travel through the U.S. for the four hometown dates, which viewers will see during the 6th episode on July 31. The four men who were chosen for the hometown dates are Graziadei, who is from Pennsylvania; Bryant, who is from Texas; California native Olubeko; and Bonner, an Ohio native.
After the hometown dates, Lawson is said to be heading to Fiji, according to first-look photos published by People.
Is Charity Lawson’s season of The Bachelorette shorter than usual?
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Fans were shocked to hear Lawson say, “We are halfway through this journey,” when she was heading to Washington with 10 men remaining. At the time, the show was only in its 4th episode, despite most seasons of The Bachelorette featuring 10 to 12 episodes.
During the filming of the season, Reality Steve reported that it was going to be a shorter season than most. In the April 10 episode of the Reality Steve Podcast, he said Lawson was down to a very small number of men by episode 5, though he said it wasn’t due to Lawson and was likely a decision made by producers.
Lawson confirmed that her season was shorter in an interview with Bustle when she revealed that the timeline was a bit different than Zach Shallcross’ season, where she first appeared. “The timelines are a little bit different, but it’s not anything that’s too noticeable,” she shared. “There’s nothing that significantly happens in the season that creates a shorter timeline. It’s just how we ended up filming.”
Charity Lawson hinted at an “emotional” finale and told fans to put on their seatbelts
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While Lawson pointed out that there is nothing “significant” that happened to cut the filming time down, she did tell viewers to “have their seatbelts on” for the fantasy suite week. “Everyone needs to have their seat belts on for fantasy suite week. It’s gonna be fun,” she told The Hollywood Reporter. “I won’t give away too much. As you progress through the season, connections form, and feelings are deepened. There’s gonna be some twists and turns, for sure, that I personally didn’t even see coming.”
Lawson made similar comments on Kaitlyn Bristowe’s podcast Off the Vine when she described the finale as “emotional.” Former Bachelorette lead Bristowe commiserated with Lawson and said she understood the intense emotions of the final week of the show, but Lawson told her, “You don’t understand. You don’t understand,” hinting that what’s to come is going to be even more intense than past seasons.
Viewers were first introduced to Lawson on Shallcross’ season of The Bachelor, but the child and family therapist was sent home just before the fantasy suites. Lawson said she was shocked to be sent home during an appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show and revealed, “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.”
Although Lawson’s time on The Bachelor ended with heartbreak, the Georgia native has a second shot at love on The Bachelorette and viewers will find out in just a few weeks whether she managed to find it with any of the men remaining on the show.
