Vanessa Williams has been in her single era for quite some time now.
During an interview with People published on Wednesday, July 24, Williams, 61, revealed that she and her third husband, Jim Skrip, quietly and amicably divorced in 2021.
“I’m doing what I love, and I’m in love with life,” the former pageant queen said when asked if she’s found love with anyone new. “There is not one person that I’m in love with, but I’m in love with everybody.”
Williams added that she is fully enjoying her independence.
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“I love my freedom,” she said. “I love being alive, having options in my life, and being surrounded by beautiful things, great people and wonderful opportunities.”
Williams and Skrip, 64, tied the knot in 2015. Skrip, a native of Buffalo, first crossed paths with Williams during a trip to Egypt.
“You go across the world to find somebody who’s six hours away,” Williams joked about her and Skrip’s meet-cute during a 2015 appearance on The Queen Latifah Show.
Williams and Skrip have gushed about each other in the past. In 2015, Williams called her then-husband “a real man” during an interview with People.
“You want somebody in your life who has integrity, who is solid, who knows who he is. He’s romantic and he’s a great guy,” she said.
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Skrip, for his part, sang Williams’ praises to the same outlet.
“Vanessa is a very strong, down-to-earth person, full of love, who values family and friends, practices her faith and is a great mom. Her beauty inside matches her external beauty,” the businessman said at the time.
Williams was previously married to Ramon Hervey II from 1987 to 1997 and to Rick Fox from 1999 to 2004. She shares daughters Melanie, 37, and Jillian, 35, and son Devin, 31, with Hervey, 73, and daughter Sasha, 24, with Fox, 55.
Williams proved that she and Fox were on good terms following their split when the former NBA star made a cameo on her hit show Ugly Betty in 2007.
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“I said, ‘Would you play my bodyguard?’ And he’s like, ‘Sure,’’ Williams recalled on Wednesday. “So, he shows up and everyone’s like, ‘Oh, my God, they’re divorced, but they’re playing together in Ugly Betty.’ That’s a perfect example of the past, the present, the personal, the business, the show business working together, and knowing that can all be synchronistically aligned and work.”
As for what it would take for someone new to catch her eye, Williams said she’s a “pretty open” person.
“My orbit’s not like you need a special pass to get in,” she said. “I finish my show, I go out and sign autographs and I talk to people.”
