Vanessa Williams Explains Why She Had Two Weddings With Jim Skrip
He’s a keeper! Vanessa Williams revealed exactly why she and husband Jim Skrip married twice—first in 2015 and the second time in 2016–during an appearance this week on Live With Kelly and Ryan.
The Ugly Betty actress and Skrip both share a strong connection to Buffalo, New York, but they somehow ended up meeting thousands of miles away—on the Nile in Egypt among all places. “We were both on a tour on the Nile in Egypt on a cruise,” said Williams, whose mother was born and raised in Buffalo. Skrip, meanwhile, just happened to be wearing a Buffalo Bills jersey in the foreign country.
“He was traveling alone and I had my daughter [with me],” she continued. “My traveling companion—my interpreter—was like, ‘He’s single. You should talk to him.’ We started talking sports and it was my last night, and I said, ‘You want to have dinner at my hotel?’ Outside… We had a lovely three hour dinner.”
“It was fate,” Seacrest said.
On July 4, 2015, the couple married at the St. Stanislaus Church followed by a reception at Statler City. The entire wedding was Egyptian-themed and planned by Carla Measer-Costamagna. “We got married in Buffalo. His annulment wasn’t done yet,” she continued. “So we had to get remarried in the Catholic Church.”
The couple chose another national holiday for the second ceremony, marrying over Memorial Day weekend the following year in Williams’ hometown of Chappaqua, New York. For the occasion, the star wore a gown by Pamella Roland that included a rose sash cinched at her waist.
A post shared by Vanessa Williams (@vanessawilliamsofficial) on May 31, 2016 at 7:06am PDT
“Yesterday we took one last walk down the aisle — this time in my little church,” Williams wrote at the time on Instagram. “Officially wedded Catholic. Amen! #MyJim.” In an interview with People, the actress explained her husband’s appeal. “My friends just look at him and say ‘God, he’s solid,’ ” she said previously of her spouse. “He’s a real man. You want somebody in your life who has integrity, who is solid, who knows who he is, who is romantic.”
The Desperate Housewives star concluded her Live interview by telling Ripa and Seacrest that he’s her “third and final” husband. (Williams was previously married to Ramon Hervey II and Rick Fox.) “No more!” she laughed. “I’m done.”
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