Greek American TV presenter Maria Menounos has revealed her heartache in dealing with the backlash from her family from dating boyfriend Kevin Undergaro.

The 36-year-old admitted on camera that her “big fat Greek family” cut ties with her because of her boyfriend’s nationality.

“It was a major problem for my strict father, who disowned me when my relationship started,” Maria Menounos said.

“He wasn’t Greek so my dad was very upset, pretty much disowned me, took my education away … I was now pretty much homeless, no education, no degree, but I had Kevin.”

“It wasn’t an easy situation,” Menounos added.

Menounos, Extra!’s red-carpet presenter, newscaster, Dancing With the Stars sensation, writer and professional wrestler who got her own reality show on Oxygen last year called Chasing Maria Menounos, had a really hard time when she was young.

“I always listened to my dad. I wasn’t allowed to date before I turned 18. I didn’t,” she explained.

“But I knew when I met Kevin, the first time, that he was the one.”

And it seems she was right, as he has never left her side after more than 16 years and is the one she credits for her success. Italian American Kevin Undergaro also knew Maria was the woman of his life.

“I just knew, as I knew she’d be a star,” he said.

Menounos admitted she wants the chance to have children, but that marriage is not that important to her.

“The show was an opportunity to kind of let people see that everything isn’t always perfect and that they can overcome these kinds of obstacles too is really important,” she said.

“We spent so many nights clinging to each other, crying in a basement on a mattress, surrounded with spiders, and it was terrible.”

“I didn’t realise what a vision he had,” she said.

Determined to make her famous, Undergaro bought her clothes, styled her up and produced her resume tape which he submitted to a local news station, insisting she’d be selected from 500 applicants.

“I knew her parents would come out to visit once we made it,” he said.

“My dad apologised to Kevin, which I think is such a sign of … I don’t know a lot of men that can actually say they’re sorry … It’s so hard to give the whole story but it was really tragic and really, really hard,” Menounos added.

Maria Menounos and her boyfriend/mentor/producer Kevin Undergaro are happy to be still receiving messages from people who have dreams and their families aren’t supportive, whether it is an issue of making it in Hollywood, or wanting to marry someone outside their race, culture or sex.