Following Charity Lawson’s emotional split from Zach Shallcross on the Monday, March 13, episode of The Bachelor, the season 27 lead is opening up about her exit — and rooting for her future in the franchise.
“It was the toughest decision to date by far,” Zach, 26, exclusively told Us Weekly at the Women Tell All taping. “It was such a strong relationship and her family was so funny and welcoming and loving, and when I had to wake up on the morning at the ceremony, I had to make a very difficult decision because the other three women too were all awesome and unique and their families were great in their own way.”
The sales rep gave roses to Gabi Elnicki, Ariel Frenkel and Kaity Biggar during Monday’s episode.
“And it was like, ‘I have to make an impossible decision and I don’t know how I’m going to do this.’ And I was sick to my stomach, like, all day,” Zach continued. “I couldn’t tell any producers or anyone what I was going to do, like, who was going to go home. And I like realized, I was like, ‘There has to be a decision. There’s no right decision here. Just hope you don’t F it up, to be honest.’ And, like, you just can’t live with the regret and I just looked at it and did it.”
While the network has yet to announce the season 20 Bachelorette, Zach told Us that Charity would “kill it” as a lead.
“She knows what she wants. She is so confident, she’s so sweet and, you know, she has a great heart,” he said. “She’s someone from the very beginning that — I don’t know what exactly it was — but [she] was just trustworthy.”
ABC has described Charity as “the total package” in her official bio. “The Georgia beauty takes her name as a call to love and care for people and has built her life on that purpose,” the bio read. “Charity is a mental health therapist and is extremely passionate about helping people live their best lives. Now, she is ready to receive the love she gives to so many others! Charity hopes her future husband is honest, loyal and shares similar morals.”
Zach’s journey, meanwhile, will continue with fantasy suites and based on the promos, he’s going to attempt to not have sex with any of his finalists.
“When Zach told me he wasn’t going have sex with any of the women, I was sort of like, ‘You’re going be able to do this? You’re gonna be tempted, you know, the fantasy suites are there for a reason.’ And sexual compatibility is a really big thing, especially if you’re gonna be getting down on a knee and asking someone to marry you,” Jesse Palmer told Us. “Also, what if the women want to have sex with you? You’re kind of taking it off the table. That was probably the most shocking [moment] because in all honesty, part of me kind of knew how it was going to end.”
Despite the drama still to come, the host told Us that Zach is “extremely happy” at the moment.
“I think Bachelor Nation is going to be absolutely thrilled at the outcome. I don’t want to speak on behalf of Zach. It was a very difficult journey to get to this point. Everybody up to this point has seen that, but the hardest part is yet to come in Thailand,” he teased. “And it’s all going to end up the way it’s supposed to. Zach tells me that he wouldn’t change anything about it, and he’s thrilled. So if he’s happy, I’m happy.”
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The Bachelor airs on ABC Mondays at 8 p.m. ET, with the Women Tell All special airing on Tuesday, March 14, at 8 p.m. ET. Scroll through for more from the cast on why Charity should be the Bachelorette: