Spoiler alert! This story reveals who was eliminated from the Fantasy Suites episode of The Bachelorette Season 20, which aired August 7.
Bachelor Nation was promised a moment that would make us want to stand up and cheer during Fantasy Suite week, and Charity Lawson did not disappoint. The Bachelorette saw its lead get the opportunity to go on overnight dates with the three men remaining after Hometowns — Dotun Olubeko, Joey Graziadei and Xavier Bonner — but not all of those men were given the opportunity to “forgo their individual rooms.” Lawson confidently sent Bonner packing, after he admitted to her that he’d been unfaithful in the past, and afterward she delivered an epic breakup line that set Twitter afire.
It wasn’t only that Xavier Bonner had cheated on past girlfriends, but the fact that he was unable to confidently assure Charity Lawson that he would not repeat the mistake in the future. He voiced fear at settling down with one woman and losing his freedom. The therapist came out in the Bachelorette, who tweeted in real time, “Ladies, take notes,” as she navigated that difficult conversation with so much poise, before becoming angry and walking him out. In explaining why Bonner had to go, Lawson said:
I’m not here to fix anybody. I’m not here to build a man. This isn’t Build-a-Man workshop.
Talk about a mic drop. Xavier Bonner’s date took up the entire first hour of The Bachelorette’s August 7 episode, and throughout their dinner, Charity Lawson allowed him to speak while never sacrificing her self-worth, and she made it clear multiple times that her expectations for him were high. Her refusal to try to shape someone into the man she pictured for herself left Bachelor Nation with their jaws on the ground:
“This isn’t build a man workshop” #TheBachelorette pic.twitter.com/y7xY2q61G7August 8, 2023
Just when we thought we couldn’t love Charity Lawson any more, she continues to outdo herself. One fan tweeted:
‘This is not a build a man workshop’ ….. my jaw dropped. All I want to do it hype this woman up for the rest of her life.
The Bachelorette viewers might just have a new motto, because the memes are out of control. Credit to ABC for not spoiling that line in the previews, too, because seeing it live and in context to what we’d just witnessed allowed her sentiments to land with full impact.
By the time the elimination was enacted, the audience had likely grown as frustrated with Xavier Bonner as Charity Lawson had, and one fan pointed out the sign we’d missed all along:
This man was knitting a literal red flag and I was too blind to see it #thebachelorette #bachelorette pic.twitter.com/HdYZaFc5RoAugust 8, 2023
It didn’t help his cause that he said he "needed to see more" of the Bachelorette and might be more confident in his ability to be a faithful husband after they spent the night together in the Fantasy Suite. Charity Lawson straight-up said that’s not happening, and thank goodness, because we were all feeling the ick:
“I need to see more” AKA “I need to sleep with you to ensure I won’t cheat” ICKY ICKY ICK ICK #TheBachelorette pic.twitter.com/iyrlGpDsHYAugust 8, 2023
Charity Lawson got the last word in the end, too, as she continues into her finale with Joey Graziadei, Dotun Olubeko and, potentially, Aaron Bryant, who made a comeback in Fiji after his Hometown elimination. Teasing what is to come in the season finale, the Bachelorette tweeted:
My already built man is in Fiji - praise God #TheBacheloretteAugust 8, 2023
Next Monday we’ll hear more from Xavier Bonner and all of Charity Lawson’s other suitors on the “Men Tell All,” before the three-hour finale on August 21 on ABC. The Bachelorette has returned to the 8 p.m. ET time slot for the remainder of the season and can also be streamed the next day with a Hulu subscription.
