E! News Officially Appoints Maria Menounos As Co-Anchor And Also Adds Three More Correspondents
E! News has officially appointed Maria Menounos as co-anchor, replacing Giuliana Rancic. The popular show has also made a few extra additions to the correspondent line-up.
The E! News network made the decision public that the co-host position and its associated duties have been officially handed over to Maria Menounos. Thirty-seven-year-old Menounos will step into the shoes of 40-year-old Giuliana Rancic as the latter decided to step down to focus on her own side endeavours, reported Entertainment Weekly. Speaking about the appointment and extolling the virtues of Menounos, Executive Vice President of News and Digital at E! John Najarian said,
“As an established entertainment and news journalist with strong Hollywood connections, Maria has proven herself to be a great fit with the E! News team.”
Giuliana had hinted about her departure from E! News, earlier this month. Though there were rumours of increasing differences and possible feuds, the outgoing co-anchor clarified that it was a self-made decision with no external influence or pressure. She had indicated that August 10 would be her last day co-anchoring on E! News as she wanted to focus on her “blossoming side ventures,” reported The Daily Mail. Rancic’s statement was included in the one released by the network:
“For more than a decade, I was fortunate enough to play a role in the success of E! News and will miss my family at the show.”
Apart from the appointment of Menounos, E! News will also feature a trio of new correspondents, reported MSN. Zuri Hall, Erin Lim and Sibley Scoles have been added to the roster and are expected to make regular appearances on the show as well on the digital series E! News Now. Explaining the reasoning behind the new additions, Najarian added:
“With their diverse backgrounds and wide ranging areas of expertise, Sibley, Erin and Zuri will be key additions to E! News, which boasts the youngest and most affluent audience amongst all entertainment shows. We are thrilled with E! News success as we continue to integrate the show more closely with the network’s digital platforms and to create new ways of engaging with an evolving audience that consumes information and entertainment across multiple screens.”
Hall previously hosted MTV’s after shows for The Challenge, among other similar platforms and was co-host of Fuse TV’s Trending 10. Lim hosted E! News Asia, while Scoles hosted music television show Revolt Live on Revolt TV.
Maria Menounos is quite familiar not just with her new role, but has an intimate idea about the network’s inner workings. Thus it will certainly be an easy jump for her as a co-host on E! News.
[Image Credit | Gustavo Caballero / Getty Images]
