Maria Menounos is stepping down from her role as E!News co-anchor as she recovers from surgery to remove a brain tumor.
News of her departure from the show came after she revealed in a People cover story that she underwent surgery to remove a meningioma brain tumor. The tumor, she says, was the size of a golf ball.
Surgeons removed nearly 100% of the benign tumor, she said, in the seven-hour surgery.
“He said there’s a six to seven percent chance that we’ll see it come back,” she said. “But I’ll take those odds any day.”
The co-anchor’s diagnosis came after bouts of headaches, slurred speech and lightheadedness in February.
The TV personality’s mother is also battling stage 4 brain cancer.
“I just want to be still for a bit and see what I’m supposed to be in this world,” she said. “For me, sharing this story is important on so many levels.”
Menounos said the experience has forced her to re-evaluate her health and her life.
“We’re caretakers as women and we put ourselves last,” she said in her interview with People. “I tell people all the time if your car is making a weird noise, you take it to the mechanic. How come when our body is making weird noises, we ignore it? I’m so lucky that I went to the doctor and raised the alarm.”
Rumor has it, Giuliana Rancic, Menounos’s nemesis, is begging to take over her role as E!News co-anchor. Sources say network execs are still looking for a suitable replacement, and that Menounos will be a “tough act to follow.”
Menonous’s co-host Jason Kennedy is reportedly devastated over her departure from the show. The two were a “perfect match,” insiders say.
