Charity Lawson Vows Not to Follow ‘Unreasonable’ Sharing Expectations

Charity Lawson knows there’s pressure to share everything about her relationship with fiancé Dotun Olubeko — but the Bachelor Nation couple is “breaking the mold.”

“It might upset [the fans], and they might come up with their theories, and that’s fine, but I think we kind of had to sit ourselves down too and talk about that,” Charity, 29, exclusively told Us Weekly at the recent 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards. “They do have these expectations and I think, sometimes, it is a little unreasonable. And you kind of have to tune that out because we’re real humans with real lives and not TV characters.”

Charity noted that it’s “nice” to have fans that are so invested in her and Dotun’s love story, but the pair also wants their privacy.

“Just putting the reminders out that, you know, we still also have a life and we have finances that we have to figure out a lot of things that go into a wedding, and that’s real,” Charity told Us at The Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. “We’re on our timeline, not anyone else’s.”

While Charity last updated fans that she and Dotun, 32, were putting wedding planning on “pause,” the former Bachelorette told Us that she “kind of did regret” using that wording.

“I was like, ‘That’s not gonna sound great.’ But it was just more of, like, I think we came off the show and we rushed into everything, and it became extremely overwhelming,” Charity said. “And for anyone who has done wedding planning before, they know it takes a lot, and we’re not just planning one, it’s two weddings. So that’s kind of just what I meant by that.”

Charity continued, “It’s just more of just moving at a slower pace, rather than trying to get everything done so soon and so quickly. But it is coming soon. We just haven’t obviously given the public the official date. We’re gonna keep that to ourselves because it’s a meaningful thing, and we wanted to not lose that.”

Bachelor Nation met Charity when she vied for the affections of Zach Shallcross on The Bachelor season 27. After not finding The One in Zach, Charity became the lead of The Bachelorette season 20. The pair got engaged in the season finale after she sent home runner-up Joey Graziadei.

When Us asked Charity how Dotun makes her happy, she replied, “I think it’s very obvious, because if you watched our season, you would see it through the camera. But I think something about Dotun is so thoughtful and very selfless. He puts others before himself. And for me, it’s not about materialistic things, and I think that’s what also provides quality and like substance to our relationship. Whether it’s big or small, him just thinking of me and prioritizing a need of mine that I may not even know about myself, but he’s observant about that, it’s the best. I love him.”

Dotun, for his part, gushed that Charity has “probably the warmest energy” that he’s ever seen. “It’s infectious and people love her,” he said. “And anywhere you go, you see the way that she captures the attention [of] the audience.”

As the couple prepares to say “I do,” Dotun revealed what they are most looking forward to this year. “Quality time and really just getting this chance to refocus,” he said. “This is a year where I’m certainly prioritizing myself and us instead of events and other things.”

With reporting by Mike Vulpo