Calamos Supports Greece
GreekReporter.comentertainmentCelebritiesMaria Menounos is Now Officially a Greek Citizen

Maria Menounos is Now Officially a Greek Citizen

Maria Menounos Greek
Maria Menounos is proud of her Greek roots. Credit: Instagram/Maria Menounos

Maria Menounos proudly announced on Thursday that she is now a Greek citizen by posing at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens holding her Greek passport.

“I’m so proud to officially be a Greek citizen! Where better to share this than in our motherland!,” she wrote on Instagram. “Thank you to everyone at the Greek consulates in Boston and Los Angeles, especially Elena Meletiou and Maria Koukoutsi, for helping me and my family achieve this special honor.”

Menounos will now be a dual citizen of the US and Greece.

The Greek-American journalist, television presenter and actress announced earlier in May that she survived pancreatic cancer.

Menounos told People magazine that she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January and had the tumor removed in the following month. The journalist previously disclosed that she had a brain tumor removed in 2017.

“I’m like ‘How in the freaking world can I have a brain tumor and pancreatic cancer?’” reflected Menounos on the second cancer diagnosis she received in her life.

Menounos, 44, and her husband Keven Undergaro, 55, are also expecting their first child with the aid of a surrogate.

Menounos confirmed the news during an interview on the chat show “Live with Kelly and Ryan.” She surprised her hosts by saying that the couple was planning to go to Greece in the summer, but they will postpone because “We are expecting a child.”

“Just after a decade of trying everything, we are so grateful to the beautiful family helping us conceive our baby,” Menounos said. “Keven, my dad and I are all beyond excited for this soul to come into our lives. What a blessing.”

Maria Menounos proud of her Greek roots

Menounos was born in the Boston suburb of Medford, Massachusetts, to Greek immigrant parents Costas and Litsa Menounos who worked as janitors in a Boston nightclub.

Menounos lost her mother Stavroula “Litsa” Menounos on May 2, 2021, and told People in a previous interview that “it’s difficult knowing her mother won’t be able to meet her grandchildren.”

“Last time, we were a day away from implanting and I was telling my mom, ‘It’s happening! We’re going to implant.’ I was so excited and giving her hope to hold on,” Menounos told People.

Menounos is proud of her Greek roots. She fulfilled her fantasy wedding in Greece in the village where her father was born in the Arcadia region of the Peloponnese in 2018.

Menounos took to Instagram to explain why having a wedding in Greece was so important to her:

“I always wanted to return to Greece and do our wedding here, Greece means so much to us, and our village and our roots,” she explained in the selfie video she posted.

“My friends said we don’t need wedding planners, we have friends and we all love you and we want to help you.”

See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!



Related Posts