Vanessa Williams Reveals She Secretly Divorced 3rd Husband Jim Skrip in 2021: ‘I Love My Freedom’

Vanessa Williams revealed that she is single after secretly divorcing Jim Skrip in 2021.

The Ugly Betty alum made the shocking revelation about her love life in an interview with People published on Wednesday, July 24. Despite the split, Vanessa, 61, still has an otherwise positive outlook on love.

“I’m doing what I love, and I’m in love with life,” she told the outlet. “There is not one person that I’m in love with, but I’m in love with everybody.”

Vanessa married Jim on July 4, 2015, at St. Stanislaus Church in Buffalo, New York.

“My friends just look at him and say, ‘God, he’s solid,'” she told People after the nuptials. “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 “Dreamin'” singer had been married and divorced twice before walking down the aisle with Jim.

“I want to be clear: I’ve been married three times, and all my husbands are good men,” she told Glamour in August 2019. “I wouldn’t have married them if they weren’t decent people. I think men go through different phases of their life, though. It’s great when that syncs up with what you want, but sometimes it might be later in your life when that happens.”

During the interview, Vanessa shared the story of how she and Jim met and fell in love.

“Meeting Jim, my third husband, was completely unexpected. During a trip to Egypt — I go there often — the Egyptologist tour guide and I were talking about relationships and dating,” she said. “She wound up sitting next to Jim on one of our excursions and thought we might hit it off. So I made the first move — he would never have approached me because I was with my daughter. I found out he was from Buffalo, which is also where my mom is from. We started talking, had dinner, and then it just continued from there. I forced myself to be open, to take a chance.”

At the time, the Broadway star reflected on her marriage and the big lesson she realized about her love life.

“Now that I’m on my third marriage, I’ve realized it’s key to not expect one person to be able to fulfill every need in your life,” Vanessa explained. “I’ve got my friend who I go to the theater with, the friend I want to play tennis with. It puts a tremendous pressure on your mate to have to fulfill every desire you’ve ever had.”
While her third marriage didn’t work out, it seems like Vanessa is hopeful about entering the dating scene once again.

“My orbit’s not like you need a special pass to get in. I finish my show, I go out and sign autographs and I talk to people,” she said of what kind of partner she is looking for. “I’m pretty open.”

Above all, the multitalented star is so happy with where life has taken her.

“I love my freedom,” Vanessa said. “I love being alive, having options in my life and being surrounded by beautiful things, great people, and wonderful opportunities.”