Nicole Moschella
Maria Menounos’ outlook on life has changed since her brain cancer diagnosis earlier this year. At the time she was diagnosed, Menounos was juggling her father Constantinos’ diabetes and her mother Litsa’s battle with stage 4 brain cancer. Then, she learned her own devastating health news.
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“I just didn’t feel like myself,” she said of the chaos at home in a new interview with US Weekly. After the diagnosis, things changed. “It was like, ‘OK, I get the message.'”
Menounos underwent surgery to remove the golf ball sized tumor from her brain and stepped down from E! News. The time she has taken to focus on herself has given her a new lease on life.
“What this has done is shift my focus into more of like a mind, body, spiritual kind of grounding that needs to happen,” she said.
“Having a healthy lifestyle was always important for me,” Menounos said. “I think this has convinced me to give myself more time, mentally, to breathe.”
She told the publication that she previously focused all of her time on work but has since been better about going out with friends and taking time to herself. She reportedly prepares to head back to work after Labor Day and recently announced she will be joining the Miss America judges’ panel on Sept. 10. In the meantime, she has been getting back into shape with her favorite workout: Pure Barre.
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“I’m desperately trying to get to a place where I can start getting back again and start doing it, because I think this will be the easiest thing I could do,” she said of the classes. “It doesn’t require a lot of moving around and shifting and stuff, so it’s like, you get in your position, you hold it, and so I’m just kind of waiting to get back on my feet to be able to jump back on board.”
She is also focused on planning her upcoming wedding to fiancé Keven Undergaro.
“A few weeks after I was home from surgery, I was like, “‘We need to get married! We need to have kids! I can’t wait anymore.’ But it’s like, ‘Alright, let’s get better first,'” she said.
She didn’t give details on whether or not they set the date but did say that she is confident he is the perfect partner for her.
“Keven would always tell me how strong I was. I never really believed him, but I one zillion percent understand now,” she said. “I can take a good hit.”
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