‘It’s a crazy place to be in, feeling two extremes’: Charity Lawson shares her feelings on Joey Graziadei becoming the next Bachelor

Now that The Bachelorette finale has aired, the remaining cast members are settling into the next chapter of their lives. Charity Lawson and Dotun Olubeko are now engaged and planning their nuptials while runner-up Joey Graziadei was announced as the next lead on The Bachelor during the After the Final Rose special.

Graziadei already has two fans supporting his journey in Lawson and Olubeko, as the Bachelorette lead shared with People, “We truly wish him nothing but the best. We saw how much of a lover boy Joey is and how much he wants his person. I do believe that he is going to have no problem finding that. He is an incredible person. We’re both rooting for him and rooting for his success.”

Lawson admitted that it was “not easy” to see Graziadei and turn him down because she knew she’d be causing him pain. Afterward, she had to take a beat to get herself in the right mindset to see Olubeko and accept his proposal. “It’s a crazy place to be in, feeling two extremes,” Lawson told the publication. “Once I saw Dotun, I was just at peace and I was so excited. I was ready to say yes to forever with him.” As for Olubeko, he had no idea that she was going to choose him and was a ball of nerves during the day. “I couldn’t speak throughout most of the day,” he revealed. “I think I might’ve said, outside of the proposal, 10 words coherently. It was a lot of tears.”

It was tough for Olubeko to realize that the entire journey might lead to Lawson not choosing him. He revealed that his mindset during the show was to compartmentalize his emotions and keep his expectations low. Now that he’s engaged to Lawson, he shared that he was excited to tune in to watch Graziadei’s journey to find a lifelong partner, and described him as an “awesome guy.” Olubeko and Graziadei got to know each other during the weeks of filming and he said the newest Bachelor star is very “intentional,” which is a good quality to have for the show.

Jesse Palmer announced that Graziadei, 28, would be the lead for The Bachelor season 28 and the tennis pro said it was “surreal.” During the After the Final Rose special, Graziadei said he felt ready to embark on that journey, and watching the connection between Olubeko and Lawson was “enough” for him to get more closure on their split and look to the future.