Photo: Matt Baron/REX/Shutterstock.Maria Menounos' longtime boyfriend proposed to her on Howard Stern this week. The E! News host said "yes" to Kevin Undergaro, with whom she's been in a relationship for 18 years.
Their story isn't quite as cut-and-dry as "first comes love, then comes marriage." In fact, back in 1998, when the couple first started going out, Menounos' family threatened to disown her for good if she didn't break things off with her new beau.
Her Greek Orthodox family threw her out of the house when she wouldn't call it quits, and the pair moved into a basement in Boston. “It wasn't an easy situation," Menounos told AOL in 2014. "He wasn't Greek. My dad was very upset, pretty much disowned me, took my education away."
“We spent so many nights clinging to each other crying, and it was terrible," she said of her early time with Undergaro. Eventually, the couple packed up and moved to Los Angeles, where Menounos kicked off her career.
"I just knew from day one, when I met Maria, that she was going to be a star," Undergaro, a TV producer, said of his fiancée. "I said, if we just stick to the plan and stay focused on what we need to, you will become that star, your parents will come to understand this whole situation, they'll be back in our lives." He was right: Her parents eventually apologized and welcomed them both back to the family.
"I think it's aspirational for people who have dreams, and your families don't support your dreams because they just seem so crazy," Undergaro added, "whether it's, 'I want to make it in Hollywood,' or, 'I want to marry someone outside of my culture or race.'" Looks like this love story got a happy ending.
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