Maria Menounos is an American actress, professional wrestler, TV personality, businesswoman, and entertainment reporter. She has served as an ambassador at the WWE since 2013. She is also the host of the podcast titled ‘Conversations with Maria Menounos’.
In December 2020, she announced that she was expecting a baby. She had battled brain cancer in 2017; in 2018, she and her husband stated that they were thinking of surrogacy as a means to have children.
Maria Menounos – Net Worth
Maria’s net worth is around 10 million.
Early Life and Education
Maria was born on June 8, 1978 in Medford, Boston suburb, Massachusetts. Her parents, Litsa and Costas Menounos were immigrants from Greece. They had come to the US before her birth and worked as janitors at a nightclub in Boston. She has a younger sibling named Peter.
She did her schooling from the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church located in Somerville, Massachusetts. Then she went to the Medford High School. After graduating from high school, she enrolled at Boston’s Emerson College and graduated from there in 2000. At Emerson, she had taken part in the ‘Emerson Independent Video’ organization. In her senior year, she also worked for Channel One News as a reporter.
Maria started competing in beauty pageants in 1995. She won the Miss Massachusetts Teen USA title in 1996 and was placed in the top 15 at the Miss Teen USA pageant. She was first runner up at the 2000 Miss Massachusetts USA contest.
Career
In 2002, Menounos began working as a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. She reported on music, movies, and fashion. She then joined Access Hollywood as a correspondent in 2005. In 06-07, she appeared in some episodes of the Today show. She also worked for NBC Nightly News as a reporter.
She has been an international spokesperson for Pantene hair products. She has done TV commercials and print ads for them. She has also featured for New York & Company in print ads.
She runs an online entertainment network called ‘AfterBuzzTV’. She launched the series ‘Conversations with Maria Menounos’ in 2013.
Over the years, she has acted in different TV shows like Without a Trace, One Tree Hill, Fly By Knight, and Scrubs, etc. She has acted in movies like Fantastic Four, Kickin’ It Old Skool, and Paranormal Movie, etc. She also appeared in Jessica Simpson’s ‘A Public Affair’ music video in 2006. In 2014, she featured in her reality TV series ‘Chasing Maria Menounos’.
She has hosted shows like Planet Green network’s Hollywood Green, reality TV game-show miniseries ‘Clash of the Choirs’, the Dogcatemy Celebrity Gala, MTV shows like The Challenge and The Real World, Warner Bros.’s show Extra, and different programs and shows on E! Entertainment. She became a co-anchor of E! News in 2015, but had to step down after 2 years due to diagnosis and subsequent treatment for brain cancer. Since 2015, she has hosted the radio show ‘Conversations with Maria’.
She has participated in the 2008 celebrity softball game at NYC’s Yankee stadium; played in the 2008 AVP Cuervo Gold Crown Huntington Beach Open; and contested in ‘Dancing with the Stars’ season 14.
Maria made her first appearance in the WWE in October 2009 as a guest host of WWE Raw. Since then she has made her in-ring debut and appeared at major events like Wrestlemania and Summerslam, etc. She was the pre-show host of WWE Hall of Fame red carpet event from 2014 to 2019.
Maria Menounos – Height
She is 1.73 meter tall
Maria Menounos – Husband and Children
- Maria and producer/director Keven Undergaro began a relationship in April 1998. He proposed to her on The Howard Stern Show in March 2016 and the two were engaged. The couple married at Times Square on December 31, 2017 during the New Year Eve’s celebrations. The marriage ceremony was officiated by Steve Harvey of Fox. The two had an Orthodox wedding in October 2018 in Akovos, Greece.
Maria Menounos – Cancer Recovery
- Menounos underwent brain surgery in June 2017 for removal of a benign brain tumor. Incidentally, her mother passed away due to brain cancer in 2021.
Maria Menounos – Trivia
- At age 17, while attending Emerson College, Maria had produced a fairy tale film called ‘In the Land of Merry Misfits’ for MTV’s Singled Out. She also had a voice role in it. The negative of the movie was however stolen and it was never finished. In 2005, Maria used her personal money to recover the film and restore it. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2007.
- In 2004, she was featured in the “50 Most Beautiful People” list by People and FHM magazine
- She won a Daytime Emmy award in 2014 for her work in the show Extra.
- Menounos has been involved in charity work from a very young age. She is the founder of the charity organization ‘Take Action Hollywood!’ She has helped organizations like Red Cross and also presented at Climate Change rallies.
Maria Menounos – House
The couple purchased a 5 bedroom mansion in 2005 for just over $2 million. Located in Encino suburb, Los Angeles, California, the property is spread across just under an acre and is currently worth around $6 million.
Maria Menounos – Pictures
Maria Menounos – Husband Keven
