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"Our hearts will always ache over your loss but you will never be forgotten," wrote Menounos' husband, Keven Undergaro.
Maria Menounos' mom, Litsa, has passed away following a battle with stage 4 brain cancer.
Menounos took to Instagram on Sunday to announce the sad news of her mom's death. The TV host posted an emotional photo of herself lying alongside her mom in bed.
"RIP mom. 💔 God loved her so much he took her on greek easter," she captioned the pic, adding in Greek: "Christ is risen mom."
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Menounos' husband, Keven Undergaro, posted a moving tribute to his late mother-in-law on Instagram.
"The past two years have been rough on the whole world," he captioned a selfie of himself and Litsa. "During this time, with my business on hiatus, getting Litsa to chemo and taking care of her largely fell upon me. It was so hard navigating all the Covid protocols and hurdles to wheel her where she needed to be. Yet, she never complained. Instead, driving to the hospital we sang Greek songs and laughed."
"During chemo we bonded with other families of varying races religions and backgrounds who were battling cancer too," Undergaro continued. "Soon we created a prayer text chain for us all, making lifelong friendships in the process. At home we binged on HGTV with the pups on our laps."
"Then, after just a few months, it hit me," he concluded. "I was hardly taking care of Litsa. As always, Litsa was taking care of me: keeping me occupied and smiling while giving me renewed purpose and faith. We have all been crying today. The tears seem to come and go and come again. I'll never be able to repay you Litsa for all you've done for me and others including all our @afterbuzztv hosts who you cooked for and mothered, too, and who also love you. Our hearts will always ache over your loss but you will never be forgotten. RIP my Litsa - God brought you home on Greek Easter for a reason - we love you forever :(."
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Lista battled glioblastoma for nearly five years. She was also diagnosed with Covid-19 in December and was later hospitalized. Her husband, Menounos' father, Constantinos, who has Type 1 diabetes, contracted the coronavirus soon after and was hospitalized as well.
During an episode of "Better Together" in December, Menounos revealed her parents' double Covid diagnosis as well as the news that her mom's brain tumor had grown.
"We land, and that's when this all started," she continued. "Long story short is that within a few hours, both of my parents were diagnosed with Covid...First it was my mom; they had rushed her to the hospital right when I landed and then a few hours later my dad tested positive. It was absolutely surreal."
Both of her parents recovered from Covid. However, in January, an MRI showed that Litsa had a brain bleed and her tumor had "quadrupled in size," according to Menounos.
With the help of a friend who offered their private plane, Menounos was able to fly her mom back home to Connecticut to be with family.
In late March, Menounos opened up about her mom's illness while guest co-hosting "Live with Kelly and Ryan," explaining how we all need to "celebrate every miracle."
"She has glioblastoma. And if you know anything about glioblastoma, the statistics are not wonderful, but she was diagnosed almost five years ago," she began. "So let me start with, she has been a miracle. She beat Covid. She continues to be a miracle."
Menounos said her mom had encouraged her to go to "Live with Kelly and Ryan" and added that a priest had visited her mom a day prior.
"The priest comes yesterday and I'm on FaceTime with them," she recalled. "And it was pretty amazing because once I got to New York, I was like, Okay, I need to clean up my vibration. I need to go back in a miracle mode because this is why she's been a miracle. She believed she was going to be a miracle. And for anybody out there, who's scared right now and is dealing with an illness, this is really important for you because you attract so much with your energy too."
"The priest finished his service," Menounos continued. "And he said, 'The Lord is with you. And I go, 'Yes, he has been.' And the priest didn't know I was on FaceTime. I go, 'My mom has been a miracle for almost five years and she will continue to be a miracle!' She jumps up, she goes, 'Yes, Maria. I'm a miracle.' I go, 'Yes, you are mom.' That's my girl. She lit up with this big smile. And I said, 'Dad, I know you keep saying, why did all these things happen to our family? ... but you're missing out on all the miracles he gave us too.' He almost died a million times with his low blood sugar coma attacks. My mom got diagnosed with this terrible disease. She's beaten it. I said, 'We have to celebrate every miracle, even this one right now.' So that's it. And Mom, I love you. You are a miracle and you're going to keep being a miracle."
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