She was caring for her mother, who has stage 4 brain cancer, when she got the news.
Actress and E! News personality Maria Menounos says she has been battling a benign brain tumor and has announced her resignation from the network.
The 39-year-old told People magazine she underwent surgery last month to remove a golf ball-sized tumor that was discovered earlier in the year.
“I’d been getting lightheaded on set and having headaches,” she told People. “My speech had gotten slurred and I was having difficulty reading the teleprompter.”
When she consulted a doctor, they discovered the tumor. On June 8, she underwent a seven-hour surgery to have the tumor removed. She says that 99.9% of it has been taken out but there is a small chance it could return.
She announced Monday that she is leaving the network after three years. E! said in a statement that she will take on her health "with the same fierce dedication she is known for."
Prior to her diagnosis, Menounos was caring for her mother, who has stage 4 brain cancer.
“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?"
Menounos, who previously worked for Access Hollywood and was once a WWE wrestler, said her “face is still numb” following the surgery.”
She is engaged to writer and producer Keven Undergaro, whom she's been dating since 1998.
Watch: Mother Anguished to Find Out She Has Cancer, Hours After Her Husband's Death