Maria Menounos is a person who talks on TV. She couldn’t talk on TV very well for a while, because she had a brain tumor and didn’t know it.
As she was caring for her mother, who has stage 4 brain cancer, Maria Menounos found out she was facing a health crisis of her own. In February, the TV and Sirius XM radio host started experiencing troubling symptoms. “I’d been getting lightheaded on set and having headaches,” she tells PEOPLE in the magazine’s exclusive new cover story. “My speech had gotten slurred and I was having difficulty reading the teleprompter.” An MRI revealed Menounos had a golf-ball-size meningioma brain tumor that was pushing on her facial nerves. “I didn’t cry. I actually laughed,” she recalls. “It’s so surreal and crazy and unbelievable that my mom has a brain tumor—and now I have one too?”
Man, that’s sad. But have you ever seen Maria Menounos in a bikini or a tight dress though? If you told me she had a tumor, I’d think for sure it was in her ass. Sup. Hit me up after your brain stuff.
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #1
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: Maria Menounos attends the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/WireImage)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #2
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: Maria Menounos attends the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/WireImage)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #3
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: Maria Menounos attends the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards - Arrivals at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #4
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #5
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: Maria Menounos arrives at the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Gregg DeGuire/WireImage)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #6
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: Maria Menounos attends the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/WireImage)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #7
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: Maria Menounos attends the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/WireImage)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #8
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #9
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: Maria Menounos attends the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards - Arrivals at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #10
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: Maria Menounos attends the 44th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards - Arrivals at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #11
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #12
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #13
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #14
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #15
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #16
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #17
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #18
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)
Maria Menounos Brain Tumor #19
PASADENA, CA - APRIL 30: TV Personality Maria Menounos attends the 44th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Auditorium on April 30, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic)