Maria Menounos Signs Overall Deal with E!

Popular entertainment host, journalist, author, producer and Reality Show star Maria Menounos has signed a multi-year agreement with E! that includes both talent and producing roles. As part of the comprehensive partnership, Menounos will host a new one-hour entertainment news magazine series, "Untold with Maria Menounos." Menounos will also be featured on the popular off-the-cuff roundtable series "Live From E!" and upcoming "E! Specials." Additionally, Menounos' production company, Underman/Omegagirl Productions, will hang its shingle at E!, with the network getting First Look rights to ideas for series, specials and other projects across all platforms.

"As we continue to expand E!'s dynamic news programming line-up, we're so excited to have Maria join the E! team to help drive the growth and expansion of E! as the global entertainment news leader. With her undeniable charisma and deep industry relationships, Maria has a huge fan following as one of the premiere entertainment news personalities in Hollywood today," said Cyndi McClellan, President, Network Strategy & E! News, E! She added, "While conceiving "Untold," we always thought Maria was the ideal host because of her varied experiences not only in entertainment, but also in global reporting. We're thrilled to bring her talents to the network and to collaborate with her as we create and develop exciting new programming together."

"To be able to host, report and produce for an entire network, one that spans globally no less, is thrilling," added Menounos. "I'm excited to exercise my talents on both sides of the camera as my partner, Keven Undergaro, and I have many projects to bring to the network through Underman/Omegagirl. I'm equally excited to join a team of hosts and producers that are amongst the finest in our industry."

Hosted on location by Menounos, "Untold with Maria Menounos" is a fresh and fun approach to celebrity and trends, covering a wide array of topics, such as Gen Y Royals, the rise of heroin in Hollywood, the popularity of electronic dance music (EDM) and the meteoric rise of some reality stars from their humble beginnings. Each episode will be comprised of three extensive individual stories, as well as additional segments such as celebrity sound-off and pop culture minute.

"Live from E!" is a live roundtable discussion led by popular E! personalities that is filled with off-the-cuff commentary and inside scoop on the latest celebrity news and gossip. It features a breakdown of the news and latest celebrity video and photos, along with candid conversation and celebrity guests. This fast-paced and high-energy series lets the audience drop in on the fun and topical conversations as they are happening inside the walls of E! The popular series, which began as a web series at Eonline before crossing over to TV, airs Mondays at 8pm ET/PT.

Maria Menounos most recently served as a host of the daily entertainment news show, "Extra" and previously reported for "Nightly News," the "Today Show" and "Access Hollywood" where she traveled the globe covering world affairs. Her reality series "Chasing Maria Menounos" airs on Oxygen. In the digital space, she hosted The Talk series "Conversations with Maria Menounos," is the founder of the online broadcast network, AfterBuzz TV, producing TV 'after-shows' and playing to a weekly world audience of 22 million and is co-founder of "Black Hollywood Live," the first online broadcast network dedicated to African American entertainment news. She is a contributing editor for People Magazine's Style Watch and author of the New York Times Best Seller The Everygirl's Guide to Life with a second book, The Everygirl's Guide to Diet and Fitness slated for release this June 3rd. Menounos was a semi-finalist in the reality competition series "Dancing with the Stars" and has had roles on "Louie", "Entourage", "Tropic Thunder", "One Tree Hill" and "The Mindy Project." Having interviewed every President, one on one since Clinton, she remains the only journalist to interview the entire Obama family, an interview heralded by ABC News as pivotal to the President's historic victory.

Photo by Jim Smeal / BEImages

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