Maria Menounos & Derek Hough - Season 14

[MFWalkoff]

Maria Menounos
"Hollywood's Hottest Host"

Pro: Derek Hough

She's an actress, author and the host of TV's Extra. Now Maria Menounos is a dancer, too!

Maria's story began when she was cleaning Boston nightclubs alongside her Greek immigrant parents at age of three. She didn't learn to speak English until she was 10. At 22, she became the youngest person to host Entertainment Tonight and would later report for Today, Dateline and Nightly News.

Maria has traveled to such places as El Salvador, South Africa and Afghanistan while reporting on earthquakes, the AIDS epidemic and the war. Inspired by her world travels and the devastating effects of the AIDS crisis, she created the charity, "Take Action Hollywood!" In 2008, she conducted the only interview with the Obama family during the presidential campaign.

Maria is the New York Times bestselling author of the self-help book, The EveryGirl's Guide to Life. She recently launched AfterBuzzTV.com, an online digital network dedicated to producing wrap-up shows for America's favorite television series. She loves people, life and trying new things. Well, Maria is going to try many new things in the ballroom. We can't wait to see how far she goes!

Cast Bios - ABC.com

[OrangeCrush]

Derek usually gets someone who is a pretty good dancer...so I'm going to take a wild guess that Maria will be pretty good too

[karalott]

I've been wanting to see Maria do this show for a long time, and was hoping she'd get someone besides Derek (at least it's not Mark). So I'm torn-I want her to do well, but not him. Oh well, at least the judges (or tweedle dee and tweedle dum) will be on her side, even at her worst. I'll just ignore the Derek factor. I went into last season expecting to root for Ricki, but she turned me off big time. She seemed like Jennifer Grey 2.0, minus the dancing skill. Hopefully Maria doesn't fall into that trap.

[Tilden]

Derek usually gets someone who is a pretty good dancer...so I'm going to take a wild guess that Maria will be pretty good too

Usually? Try always. He's never once had the equivalent of a Kate Gosselin or a Macy Gray or a Cloris Leachman.

[Fanny Mare]

She said she is very nervous, as she has never danced before. I am going to enjoy this pairing very much

[CharmOffensive]

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[combatcutie]

Derek is a great choreographer, but I cannot stand his "oh so deserving" attitude sometimes. She did okay

[nanarama]

It's a tribute to Derek's choreography that they looked as good as they did without her doing a lot of actual dance steps. I will have to see in weeks to come, but it doesn't appear that she'll be a super strong competitor. Derek has been blessed in his partners, but one thing that gets him far is that he has a knack for putting on a performance that makes the most of what his partner actually can do and making it look great.

I still don't think he could make a "silk purse" out of a train wreck like Kare Gosselin.

[Fanny Mare]

Well she hasn't danced before, so lets see what he can do! I think he's a great teacher/choreographer, and thats why his partner end up looking good.

[karalott]

Maria's debut was underwhelming, and I thought she was overscored. But I had a feeling, when she got 3 7s, we were in for a night of overscoring. I thought Maria did okay, considering I thought she stood there and danced in place a lot of time. Hopefully it's not the Derek love fest from the judges, and Maria benefits from it. I do think nerves hindered her performance somewhat.

It doesn't seem like she had a lot of natural ability, and I almost think the height difference may be a disadvantage. She might have been better off partnered with Maks or Tony. I am fan, though, so I hope she improves.