The Bachelor franchise has long boasted that once a season concludes with its final couple, the newly engaged lovers get to embark on the next stage of their journey: their “normal” life. But for Dotun Olubeko, the 32-year-old Nigerian-American integrative medical specialist and final suitor of The Bachelorette Season 20, his days from Los Angeles to Brooklyn have been anything but.
Since his proposal to Bachelorette Charity Lawson in April 2023, Olubeko and Lawson’s lives have been packed with unexpected opportunities, from seats at New York Fashion Week to private guided tours at Disneyland. However, he has managed to maintain some sense of normalcy through decisions such as continuing to work his full-time job. This aspect of Dotun was one of many that rang “normal” and relatable. (Another was that he even cited a doctor’s appointment as an excuse to step away from work to make space in his day for our interview.)
“Every day that someone wants to do something with me, I’m like, ‘What?’” he said in his exclusive interview with TV Insider on behalf of BetUS. “I never get used to it. Even this.”
Olubeko opened up about some of his favorite experiences in the last year following his engagement, such as a cover photo shoot in Grenada with African multicultural wedding magazine MunaLuchi. He implored others to check out the article, even just for the photos alone.
“Such a cool team. They just absolutely crushed it,” he said. “It’s an African bridal magazine, so it was a nice way to pay almost homage to my personal roots in a world that is, you know, very the opposite of that, to put it lightly I guess.”
“The Bachelor‘s very Americana right,” he explained further. “So it’s nice to put a touch on it with something that I connected with.”
Like Jenn Tran, the most recent Bachelorette of the series whose love story (or lack thereof) we’ll get to soon, Olubeko and Lawson made history in the historically white show. Tran was the first Asian American Bachelorette in the show’s 21-season history. Olubeko and Lawson were the first non-white monoracial couple to leave engaged. But to Olubeko, their relationship exists outside of the context of the reality show. To him, his fiancée is just Charity.
“The fairy tale was always meant to end after the show,” he said. “Real work starts after that. And so it’s been real. We go to therapy, which has been awesome. We’re just feeling so lucky that we were so compatible. Even if you choose someone that’s great, you might not be compatible. Me and her are very compatible.”
While for some, the fairy tale ending brings a couple to Brooklyn (though Olubeko and Lawson are considering the move to Manhattan), for others, it can end in a broken engagement. In a shocking and controversial airing of Season 21’s finale on September 3, Tran explained to the live audience that her final suitor Devin Strader broke off their engagement in a 15-minute phone call. She then had to watch the footage of herself proposing to Strader, all while sitting beside him on a small studio couch.
Olubeko, who considers himself a friend of Tran’s, had words of advice to impart.
“Vulnerability is strength,” he explained. “I know that’s a quote, but that’s quite literally the definition. When you break it down, you can see it. It’s a strength to say, if I get hurt, I can get back up again. So I think that would be my advice for her: It’s to just be vulnerable. Because listen, she’s got her own things too right? She didn’t cry one time when all this stuff was going down. She was just saying bye to people.”
He continued, “She spoke a lot on the show about the trouble she’s had in her past relationships, but you’re not going to really find the best unless you can offer the best of yourself. So I hope she does that.”
As for Tran’s future, she’ll be dancing to compete on the upcoming season of ABC’s Dancing With the Stars. She won’t be the only celebrity there to represent Bachelor Nation, as she’ll be joining Season 28 Bachelor Joey Graziadei, who came in second in the running for Lawson’s heart. Olubeko had nothing but support to offer the former professional tennis player on his upcoming competition.
“I think he has a real shot at being top three, at the very least,” said Olubeko. “I’ll be tuning in for sure.”
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In the meantime, Olubeko and Lawson have a wedding to plan, scheduled for sometime in 2025. From that to apartment hunting to more “doctor’s appointments,” perhaps things will finally start to feel normal. Even their most recent trip to Disney World was tinged with the relatability of gawking at the amusement park’s high prices.
“Disney was awesome. We flew to Florida, had the tour guide that walks you around. It’s the craziest experience ever,” said Olubeko. “I think it’s like up to $1,000 an hour or something crazy right, but that was definitely a surprising thing that we all really enjoyed. It’s just such an awesome experience to get that once in a lifetime. Like we’ll probably never do that again.”
Upon pushing back that perhaps publishing his newfound love for Disney would encourage the park to bring the former reality contestant and his Bachelorette fiancée back again, Olubeko’s eyes lit up. “C’mon, Katie,” he jested. “Let’s get to work! If you do that, we’ll bring you next time.”
Disney, the ball is in your court.
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