Maria Menounos Leaves 'Extra,' Source Claims She Was Not Fired

11:11 AM EDT 3/27/2014 by Lindsay Cronin, Celebeat Reporter

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Maria Menounos is moving on from her gig with Extra -- but the decision has nothing to do with any alleged tension with her co-host.

While there have been rumors circulating, which claim Menounos was let go from the entertainment news program because of her strained relationship with co-host Mario Lopez, a new source claims that is far from the case.

"Maria was 100 percent not fired," a source told Us Weekly of 35-year-old Menounos. "The truth is, she decided months ago on her own to explore other options, as she knew her contract was coming up for renewal. She made this decision."

After beginning her career in television in 1990 as the host of Channel One News, Menounos took a break from showbiz for 10 years before returning as a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. From there, Menounos made guest appearances on several TV shows, including Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Scrubs, Entourage, and The Mindy Project. She also had a recurring role on One Tree Hill from 2004-2005.

Nowadays, Menounos is starring in her own reality show on the Oxygen network titled, Chasing Maria Menounos. The series follows Menounous in her personal life and airs every Tuesday at 10 p.m.

"Maria has so much going on with her reality show, and she's happy that she has so many options to explore right now," the source added.

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