Maria Menounos | Celebrity Net Worth 2026

Biography & Early Wealth Journey

Maria Menounos became a familiar face on entertainment television through high-profile jobs at "Entertainment Tonight," "Access Hollywood," "Today," "Extra," and E! News. She spent three years co-hosting "Extra" alongside Mario Lopez, and the program won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment News Program during her tenure.

Menounos has also built an unusually varied career outside traditional entertainment reporting. She co-hosted the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, competed on "Dancing with the Stars," wrestled at WrestleMania, acted in films and television shows, wrote bestselling lifestyle books, and co-founded the digital television network AfterBuzz TV with her husband, Keven Undergaro. After serious health challenges forced her to reconsider the pace and direction of her career, Menounos increasingly shifted into health and wellness media. Her long-running digital show and podcast "Heal Squad x Maria Menounos" features conversations with doctors, wellness experts, celebrities, and other guests about physical and emotional health. She has also hosted retreats and live wellness events built around the "Heal Squad" brand.

Early Life

Maria Menounos was born on June 8, 1978, in Medford, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. Her parents, Costas and Litsa Menounos, were Greek immigrants who worked as janitors at a Boston nightclub. Greek was Maria's first language, and she grew up attending the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church.

Primary Income Streams & Multi-Million Contracts

Menounos attended Medford High School and became interested in filmmaking and television while still a teenager. At 17, she produced the independent fantasy film "Land of Merry Misfits."

She also competed in beauty pageants. Menounos won the title of Miss Massachusetts Teen USA in 1996 and went on to compete at Miss Teen USA. Several years later, she finished as first runner-up in the 2000 Miss Massachusetts USA pageant.

Menounos attended Emerson College in Boston, where she participated in Emerson Independent Video and graduated in 2000. While still in college, she joined Channel One News, the school-focused news service that also helped launch the careers of several prominent television journalists.

Her reporting assignments for Channel One included traveling to El Salvador following devastating earthquakes, reporting on the AIDS crisis in Africa, interviewing NATO air crews, and interviewing President George W. Bush.

Entertainment Television Career

Menounos' first major national entertainment job arrived in 2002 when "Entertainment Tonight" hired her as a correspondent. She covered movies, television, music, fashion, awards shows, and celebrity news while also hosting "ET on MTV."

In 2005, she left "Entertainment Tonight" and joined "Access Hollywood." She also contributed to NBC programs including "Today" and "NBC Nightly News."

Menounos' profile continued to rise outside the United States. In 2006, she co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in Athens with Greek singer Sakis Rouvas. The broadcast was watched by an enormous international audience and remains one of the largest live television assignments of her career.

Wealth Trajectory & Future Earnings Projections

She also pursued acting. Menounos appeared on television series including "One Tree Hill," "Scrubs," "Entourage," and "The Mindy Project." Her film credits include "Fantastic Four," starring Chris Evans, "Kickin' It Old Skool" with Jamie Kennedy, and "Tropic Thunder."

In 2008, Menounos conducted a joint interview with Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, and their daughters during the presidential campaign, becoming the first reporter to interview the entire immediate Obama family together.

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"Extra," "Dancing with the Stars," and E!

In 2011, Menounos joined the syndicated entertainment program "Extra" as a co-host. She remained with the show for three years and was part of the team that won the 2014 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Entertainment News Program.

While working on "Extra," Menounos competed on season 14 of "Dancing with the Stars." She was paired with professional dancer Derek Hough, and the pair advanced to the semifinals before finishing in fourth place.

In 2014, Menounos left "Extra" and signed a multi-year deal with E! Entertainment. She initially hosted specials and other programming before becoming co-anchor of E! News in 2015, succeeding Giuliana Rancic.

Menounos stepped down from E! News in 2017 after undergoing surgery for a benign brain tumor. The health crisis ultimately marked a major turning point in both her personal life and professional priorities.

AfterBuzz TV and Digital Media

Long before podcasts and television after-shows became standard parts of entertainment media, Menounos and Keven Undergaro recognized the potential of programming built around fans discussing television immediately after an episode aired.

The couple co-founded AfterBuzz TV, which developed after-shows devoted to individual television series. Hosts would recap episodes, debate storylines, interview actors and producers, and interact with viewers online.

AfterBuzz grew into a large digital broadcasting operation covering hundreds of television and streaming series. The network also became a training ground for aspiring hosts, journalists, and entertainment personalities.

Menounos expanded her own digital presence with the interview series "Conversations with Maria Menounos" and later "Better Together with Maria Menounos." Those programs gradually evolved toward health, personal development, and wellness content.

That focus ultimately became "Heal Squad x Maria Menounos," a daily digital show and podcast featuring health experts, healers, authors, doctors, celebrities, and other guests. Menounos' own experiences with serious illness became an important part of the show's identity, and she expanded the brand into memberships, events, and wellness retreats.

Books

Menounos is also a bestselling author.

Her first lifestyle book, "The EveryGirl's Guide to Life," was published in 2011 and covered organization, career, relationships, health, fashion, and other aspects of everyday life.

She followed it with "The EveryGirl's Guide to Diet and Fitness" in 2014. The book became a New York Times bestseller and discussed the lifestyle changes Menounos used after gaining and subsequently losing approximately 40 pounds.

In 2016, she published "The EveryGirl's Guide to Cooking," featuring recipes inspired in part by the Greek food she grew up eating with her family.

WWE and Wrestling

Menounos is a longtime professional wrestling fan and developed a recurring relationship with WWE.

Her first major appearance came in October 2009 when she guest-hosted "WWE Raw" and participated in a six-woman tag-team match. She returned for WWE's "Tribute to the Troops" in 2011 and later competed at WrestleMania XXVIII in 2012.

Despite suffering two cracked ribs while rehearsing for "Dancing with the Stars," Menounos teamed with Kelly Kelly at WrestleMania and defeated Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres.

Menounos continued appearing at WWE events in subsequent years. She hosted the WWE Hall of Fame red carpet pre-show for several consecutive years and served as special guest ring announcer for the inaugural women's Royal Rumble match in 2018.

Brain Tumor and Pancreatic Cancer

Menounos experienced her first major health crisis in 2017 while her mother, Litsa, was battling stage IV brain cancer.

After suffering symptoms including headaches, dizziness, slurred speech, and difficulty reading a teleprompter, Menounos underwent an MRI that revealed a golf-ball-sized meningioma pressing against facial nerves.

She underwent a seven-hour operation in June 2017. Surgeons removed approximately 99.9% of the tumor, which was benign. Menounos left E! News shortly afterward to focus on her recovery and family.

Her mother died from brain cancer in 2021.

Menounos faced another serious diagnosis in early 2023 after experiencing persistent abdominal pain. Additional imaging eventually revealed a 3.9-centimeter tumor on her pancreas. Doctors diagnosed her with stage II pancreatic cancer, and she underwent surgery to remove the tumor.

The cancer was detected before it had spread extensively, and Menounos did not require chemotherapy. She subsequently described herself as cancer-free and began speaking frequently about her experience with delayed diagnosis and the importance of advocating for additional testing when symptoms persist.

Those health experiences played a major role in Menounos' decision to make health and wellness the primary focus of "Heal Squad."

(Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)

Personal Life

Menounos began dating director, producer, and former MTV writer Keven Undergaro in 1998.

After nearly two decades together, Undergaro proposed during an appearance on Howard Stern's radio show in March 2016.

Maria and Keven married during a live New Year's Eve television broadcast in Times Square on December 31, 2017. They held a second wedding ceremony in Greece in October 2018.

After years of fertility struggles and attempts to have a child, the couple welcomed their daughter, Athena Alexandra, via surrogate in June 2023.

Real Estate

In 2005, Maria and Keven paid $2.3 million for a home in Encino, California. The property became their longtime Los Angeles residence and remained in their possession for more than two decades.

Built in 1938, the house is located in Encino's Rancho Estates enclave and sits on approximately 0.8 acres. After years of renovations and additions, the compound spans 5,145 square feet with six bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms.

The property includes a swimming pool, tennis court, separate gym, guesthouse, podcast studio, barroom, vegetable garden, extensive landscaping, and numerous fruit trees. One of its most distinctive features is a private screening room containing 15 reclining leather seats, beds, and its own bathroom and shower. Maria and Keven converted the space from what had previously been a classroom.

The estate also features an outdoor screening area and a dedicated bar designed by "Bar Rescue" personality Jon Taffer.

In October 2025, the couple offered the home for rent at $40,000 per month before reducing the asking rent to $35,000.

In September 2026, Maria and Keven listed the property for sale for $6.995 million. If they ultimately sell near the asking price, the transaction would represent a substantial increase from the $2.3 million they paid in 2005, though that figure does not account for the significant renovations and improvements they made during their two decades of ownership.

Menounos

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