The Bachelor‘s Charity Lawson accepts the rose to be next Bachelorette

We may be on the cusp of one Bachelor season ending, but that just means a new season of The Bachelorette is ready to borrow the ABC time slot. During Tuesday night’s episode of “The Women Tell All,” we got our first big reveal for the upcoming franchise’s season 20 when it was announced that The Bachelor contestant Charity Lawson would be The Bachelorette’s next lead.

As with all Bachelor Nation reveals, dramatics were at play when host Jesse Palmer surprised (keyword: revealed on TV) Lawson with the news, making her believe they were only filming a game of “This or That” for the show’s social media. After Lawson chose The Bachelorette over Bachelor In Paradise during the game, Palmer decided to let her in on her future lead status.

“Well, I’m glad you said that because Charity, I want you to be our next Bachelorette,” said Palmer to a stunned Lawson (via Variety) before she accepted the title.

“I’ve waited forever to find the love of my life. It blows my mind that I could meet my person and be engaged and literally have my happily ever after,” said the Columbus, Ohio native about being the next Bachelorette.

She added, “I can’t wait to show little girls that look like me… being in a position like this is possible.”

For those who reasonably do not have the time to watch two hour-long episodes per week, Lawson first joined the franchise in the most recent season of The Bachelor. Hitting it off with lead Zach Shallcross from the jump, Lawson received a make-up one-on-one date in Estonia after her original date in London was canceled when Shallcross got COVID-19. She eventually made it all the way to the inaugural “Hometowns” week, before sadly being sent home in fourth place.

While she may not have received that final rose from Zach, we’ll get to see Lawson hand out the roses this time around when season 20 of The Bachelorette premieres this summer on ABC.