Giuliana Rancic is still seething that her rival Maria Menounos is replacing her as anchor of E! News, according to a source.
Although Rancic has been plotting her exit for some time, our source says that Menounos being named co-anchor at E! News was “a major slap in the face for Giuliana.
She feels like she brought E! News back to relevance, because it was going to be canceled at one point . . . to have her archnemesis now anchoring is a major blow.”
Another insider adds: “Maria was hired only because Giuliana was planning to leave. Maria is feeling a lot of pressure to succeed right now, because all of her shows on the network have failed. Execs are nervous and upset about the deal they’ve inherited.”
The network announced Menounos as the new co-host last week. We hear co-host Terrence Jenkins will exit the show by the end of the year.
An insider adds the program will be broken up into two half-hour shows with four hosts. Menounos will appear on only one show.
“It’s a test period to see how she works on the news desk, and if ratings continue to decline, the network will have to re-evaluate,” says the insider.
A rep for E! said: “There is no truth to it being broken up in two half-hour shows. We are very excited to have Maria expand her role on the E! News team — she is a talented and popular personality across the network.”