Charity Lawson is in New York City shopping for wedding dresses — but she initially didn’t think she’d get there.
First introduced to Bachelor Nation via the flagship show in January 2023, Lawson, 28, starred in the 20th season of The Bachelorette, in which she got engaged to integrative medicine specialist Dotun Olubenko. Just weeks after the finale aired in August, she joined season 32 of Dancing With the Stars, where she finished in fourth place with dance partner Artem Chigvintsev in December.
“It’s a lot,” Lawson told The New York Times in a piece published Saturday, April 6. “I came into all of this quickly. I didn’t envision myself even being engaged.”
Now, the former Bachelorette is on the hunt for the perfect dress. Lawson spoke to The New York Times while attending New York Bridal Fashion Week, an event that lasts from April 2 to 4, where bridal designers show off their latest collections to journalists, buyers and brides-to-be.
Set to wed in 2025, Lawson wants her dress picked out by July. The ABC personality and Olubenko, 31, have planned for one ceremony to be held in California in fall 2025, which will be followed by a traditional Nigerian wedding in Lagos.
Lawson told NYT that she frequently fielded questions from reporters and strangers alike about the date of her wedding, which the couple has not publicly revealed. “People want me to disclose our wedding day so bad — that is between me, my family and fiancé,” she said.
Lawson’s search for a wedding dress came shortly after getting a boob job, which she revealed via TikTok on Friday, April 5. In her video, Lawson explained that she was one week post-op, calling it the “best decision” she has made for herself “in a hot minute.”
“There has been a lot of speculation and also a lot of you all have reached out to me,” Lawson said, adding that she “appreciates” the “encouraging” and “uplifting” messages she received from fans.
“If I turn to the side a little bit, like, it’s still, like, in proportion with my frame,” she said. “I’m very petite and tiny. So, I knew that going in, and I was like, I don’t want this to be like, ‘Oh my God, this girl got her titties done.’”
The Bachelor Nation star noted that after her surgery, she was “healing well” enough for her to hop on a plane to attend New York Bridal Fashion Week.
“I was able to, obviously, fly back to New York, go to New York bridal week and now I’m back in L.A.,” she said. “So I probably should, like, hang tight on flying so much, but you know, just got things to do.”
