BUFFALO, N.Y (WIVB) — You would probably recognize Former Miss America and current actress, dancer, and singer Vanessa Williams in pictures. But would you recognize the man often by her side?

If you’re from Depew or went to St. Bonaventure University, you might. Vanessa’s fiance, Jim Skrip, is just a Buffalo guy who met an A-list celebrity in the desert, and now he’s marrying her. In a way, they have our pro hockey and football teams to thank.

“Well, I met him in Egypt. We were both on a tour on the Nile, couldn’t be any more romantic,” Vanessa remembered last week while talking about her current project with the nonprofit Dress for Success with News 4. “He was wearing a Sabres shirt, and I walked up to him and I said are you from Buffalo? And he said yes. And I said well my mom’s from Buffalo, my mom’s side of the family, but cousins and aunts, are still there. My brother’s a huge Bills fan, and we started talking about Buffalo. And that was our connection.”

The two kept in touch, and not long after Vanessa invited Jim for a visit to New York. One of their first dates was to a Bills-Jets game in New Jersey, making them a true “One Buffalo” couple.

That all went down about three years ago, and now Vanessa and Jim are planning to get married in Buffalo sometime in the coming months.

This month, Vanessa Williams teamed up with Dress for Success and Tracphone to empower women through their “Success is Calling” program, aimed at helping women prepare for phone interviews.  For more information, click here.