Delta Burke and her husband, This Is Us star Gerald McRaney, weren't just celebrating his Emmy victory when they walked the red carpet at the 2017 Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremony last weekend—they were also reliving one of their first dates.

Thirty years ago, Burke showed up at the Primetime Emmy Awards on the arm of McRaney, whom she had only recently begun dating. "He asked me to marry him on the second date, so we were pretty committed!" Burke, 61, told People.

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Burke and McRaney at the 1987 Emmy Awards

At the time, the Orlando native was entering the second season of her sitcom Designing Women, for which director Jack Shea was nominated for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series. She met McRaney doing a guest appearance on his detective show Simon & Simon.

"I wasn't going to let her get away," McRaney, 70, explained. "I already had competition. There were people asking her out on dates, and I was going to move in right away."

He did so against the advice of friends who told him to never marry an actress. "Why not?" McRaney quipped. "They're the only people who understand this insanity. And she does. If I'm on location, and I don't call her until 2 o'clock in the morning, no big deal. She knows."

The couple tied the knot in 1989. It was Burke's first marriage, McRaney's third.

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One of Burke's greatest struggles has been her battle with her fluctuating weight, the product of type 2 diabetes and depression. During the seventh and final season of Designing Women, in 1993, she was at her heaviest. She told Diabetic Living in 2008 that she credits McRaney for helping her "bounce back."

"It didn't matter to him how fat I got," she said. "He reminds me what I should be doing or shouldn't be eating. He likes to give me my (insulin) shots and says it makes him feel like he's taking care of me."

The Emmy McRaney took home last Sunday for his supporting role as "Dr. K" on This Is Us is the first of his nearly 50-year acting career. Burke, ever the supportive wife, teared up when the honor was announced. It's an important milestone for her, too, she told People. "I have wanted him to be nominated for so many years, I cannot tell you. I think that's he's richly deserved it, and that they've noticed him and acknowledged him this year makes me want to cry."

From: Country Living US