Maria Menounos, the beautiful cohost of Extra, NBC’s celebrity and entertainment news program, has decided to leave the show. This news comes just soon after Menounos’ two year anniversary of joining the show, where she worked alongside co-host Mario Lopez. An inside source reported to Us Magazine that Menounos was “100 percent not fired” from the position she has had since signing on to the show in 2011. Instead, the brunette beauty “decided months ago on her own to explore other options.” The timing was right with her contract coming up for renewal. One new venture in Menounos’ life is her new reality show, Chasing Maria Menounos, which airs on the Oxygen network. The show, which premiered on March 18, follows Menounos as she enters the world of acting while living under one roof with her boyfriend, Keven Undergaro, and her strict Greek parents, Litsa and Costas. Menounos’ guest starred this past season on the hit FOX comedy, The Mindy Project, starring Mindy Kaling. Menounos played a version of herself. There were rumors that Menounos may be leaving Extra after a March 24 Page Six article reported that she was clashing with co-host Lopez. However, an insider told Us Magazine that the cast and crew at Extra and its production company, Telepictures, were “supportive” of her decision to depart the program.

(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)

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