PHOTOS VIDEOS My Latest Crush: Maria Menounos

I look through hundreds of photos everyday of A-List, B-List, No-List celebrities and on occasion I can’t help but find myself a bit smitten. Whether it’s Kim Kardashian’s backnificent badonkadonk, Marina Lambrini Diamandis sporting an unbearably adorable cartoon hippopotamus dress, Brad Pitt’s pornographically cool custom motorcycle, or even a teeny tiny horse; I have to restrain myself from surrendering my entire day to writing bad poetry and listening to Air Supply’s “Lost In Love” on repeat.

This morning as I was virtually thumbing through red white carpet photos from last night’s MTV Video Music Awards I began to hear birds chirping as well as the distant sound of atmospheric adult contemporary music thanks to the magic and wonder of Maria Menounos.

I’m not gonna kid you. Sometimes these “crushes” are sparked by contagious vivaciousness or cuteness or badassness (Did I mention my man crush on Danny Trejo after his testostertastic Mexploitational entrance at the Machete Premiere?), but sometimes it’s all about the sexy mojo – and Maria Menounos seriously brought the sexy mojo packed tightly in her little black dress!

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But it wasn’t just the VMA Awards look that sealed my infatuatory fate. I instantly recognized the name Menounos (kinda hard to forget that one) from this year’s Emmy Awards, at which Maria was wearing a pulse-raising plunging backless gown that left me speechless and left Maria with my trophy for Raciest Red Carpet Outfit at the event!

As is often the case with internet crushes, my next step was to Google Miss Menounos because I have to confess I didn’t know a lot about Maria, aside from the minimal amount of research I did to write the Emmy post. The results sealed the deal and I opted to create this post in lieu of bad poetry.

Maria Menounos’ resume isn’t that impressive in terms of fame, consisting mainly of gigs as a correspondent for Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight and other guest spots for MTV, VH1 and the Today Show. She’s also had some minor acting roles like playing the sexy nurse love interest of The Flame in the film Fantastic Four, a minor role in Tropic Thunder, and recurring television roles in the series One Tree Hill and Without A Trace.

Those things did little to enhance my smittenness, but Maria’s affinity for sports sure did! Being from Medford, Massachusetts Maria Menounos is a HUGE fan of all Boston sports and is rather athletic herself, often-times competing in charity sporting events. So here is a montage of photos showcasing Maria’s skills playing softball, football and volleyball in which she throws like a girl, catches like a girl, hits like a girl, plays with the Real Housewives of New York City‘s Kelly Bensimon like a girl and wears a heartbreakingly perfect itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow striped bikini just like a Greek goddess:

^ Access Hollywood host Maria Menounos takes a swing in the first inning during the Legends and Celebrities All Star softball game at Angel Stadium in Anaheim, California July 11, 2010. (Photo: London Entertainment / Splash News)

^ Maria Menounos tossing a football with friend in South Beach December 29, 2011. (Photo: Biz/ Juan C Garces/Splash News)

Maria Menounos and Kelly Bensimon play beach volleyball in bikinis – April, 2010. (Source: FitCeleb.com)

Maria Menounos in a bikini playing volleyball (Source: FitCeleb.com)

Just in case Maria Menounos’ stab at bikini beach volleyball didn’t seal the fetish deal, she was also part of a celebrity tag team professional wrestling event!

Here are a couple photos from the RAW event that also featured Nancy O’Dell as guest host (You can see her wearing the Indianapolis Colts outfit) followed by a video of Maria in action! (Fast forward to the :55 mark for her introduction)

I am such a sucker for a fun spirit and Maria clearly has that in spades! Here she is in Howard Stern’s tickle chair demonstrating once again what a good sport she is:

And the icing on the cake? Maria Menounos is a Bond girl! Well, sort of. She plays villainess Eva Adara in the From Russia With Love video game! From UGO.com:

A character in 2005’s From Russia With Love video game, Adara is the driver, pilot and henchwoman for Red Grant. She is eventually killed on the “Octopus Base” level after she attacks 007 using a parked fighter jet. After it is damaged beyond all repair, she uses a jetpack to fly down to an underground runway, but her get-away plane ultimately crashes into a set of closed hangar doors. Her role in the game was a minor one, but she’s still pretty damned hot.

^ Maria Menounos as Eva Adara (Source: UGO.com)

At this point Maria might be a little embarrassed by this post, so let me finish it off with Maria in her most finished state: on the red carpet! These are roughly chronological and I will try to add captions for each with the 411, although I’m sure most of you will just scroll through looking at the beautiful crush-inducing eye candy that is… MARIA MENOUNOS!

^ Maria Menounos at the 18th Annual Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards (Oscars) Viewing Party (Photo: Jody Cortes / WENN.com)

^ Maria Menounos at the 81st Annual Academy Awards (Oscars) held at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on February 22, 2009. (Photo: WENN.com)

^ Maria Menounos at the Los Angeles premiere of Tropic Thunder held at Mann’s Village Theatre on August 11, 2008. (Photo: Nikki Nelson / WENN)

^ Maria Menounos at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2008 (Photo: WENN)

^ Maria Menounos at the Kickn’ It Old Skool premiere held at the Music Box in Hollywood, California on April 25, 2007 (Photo: Pat Dishinger / WENN)

^ Maria Menounos at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California on February 11, 2007. (Photo: Roger Eldemire / Wenn)

Maria Menounos on the red carpet at the 31st American Music Awards in 2003. (Photo: Juan Rico/Fame Pictures)

Top Photo: Juan Rico/Fame Pictures