Host-with-the-most Giuliana Rancic has hustled for her success, and has stayed grounded throughout
it all.
She's been open about both her struggles and her triumphs, so let's take a look back at
Giuliana Rancic's stunning transformation.
"The big day has finally arrived, yet I have no idea what to expect."
New kid
Giuliana DePandi moved from Italy to Maryland, when she was in elementary school.
She told The Washington Post she was shy because she didn't speak English.
"I didn't speak the language, it was pretty hard.
And so I think that I would just find different ways to entertain myself, and I got a core
group of girlfriends and we were pretty naughty.”
So how did she pick up the American accent?
As her dad, Eduardo DePandi, described to the Post, "Other children watched the cartoons…[Giuliana]
watched the news."
Model teen
From a young age, Rancic aspired to be a model.
As she described her in book, Going Off Script, once she saw an ad for the Barbizon School
of Modeling, she said, "I begged my parents to enroll me…Twelve hundred dollars of my
parents' hard-earned cash later, I was in!"
Even so, Rancic reflected on her teen insecurity in Seventeen Magazine, saying, "I was pretty
hard on myself...I never thought I was pretty enough.
I was kind of tall and lanky.
I don't mind it now, but back in the day I hated it."
"Oh my god, it’s Giuliana Rancic!”
“Hi everyone!”
“How beautiful, how gorgeous do you look?”
“You’re so sweet, thank you.”
Mastering journalism
After earning her undergraduate degree in journalism, Rancic was accepted into American
University, where she studied broadcast journalism.
"Hi, I'm standing in front of the George Washington Memorial, where it’s the fifty-third inauguration-
s---!”
But as the program was finishing up, the dean suggested that Rancic ditch Washington D.C.
for Hollywood.
She told the Post, "I had a whole plan…And when he told me you should probably be intro-ing
music videos or...trying to get an interview with a celebrity like John Stamos, I'm thinking,
What?
Are you kidding me right now?
I was a bit insulted."
Fired and re-hired
Just a couple years after graduating, 26-year-old Rancic had her first big opportunity with
E!
In 2001.
As the Washington Post reported, in a test interview for a permanent job at the network,
Rancic interviewed Wilmer Valderrama at a movie premiere, and had a discussion about
dating older women.
She was fired immediately.
Then, just a couple months later, Rancic was rehired by the same network when her interview
went the 2001 version of "viral".
"So if I'm at work, I devote myself to work a hundred percent.”
Mr. Right
According to E! News, Giuliana met her husband-to-be Bill Rancic, an entrepreneur and future reality
star, at an NBC upfront party.
After a few more near-misses, she interviewed him in 2004 when they were both single.
And sparks flew.
"Bill said, ‘Hey, do you wanna go out for a jog sometime?’ and I was like, ‘huh?’"
The two got engaged in 2006.
The then 31-year-old Rancic recalled, "At first, I thought Bill was surprising me with
a helicopter ride over downtown Chicago to see the Christmas lights.
Then, suddenly he pulled out the most beautiful ring I have ever seen and asked me to marry
him...When we got back to his house, he had roses and rose petals scattered everywhere
and a big chocolate cake sitting next to a bottle of our favorite wine.
It was the best night of my life."
The two wed in 2007 in Italy.
The big C
In 2011, 37-year-old Rancic was diagnosed with breast cancer.
She said, "The second I heard the 'cancer,' I just remember my head went down, the ground
went away and I just dropped through the earth, and I was just dropping, falling…Everything
you expect that conversation is going to be like — it's a hundred times worse, maybe
a million times worse, because those are the words you never want to hear."
"The amount of women who have come up to me and said because of my story, they got their
first mammogram, and I’ve had women come up to me that say they found their cancer
because of the story.”
That December, the E! host underwent a double mastectomy, and today is cancer free.
In 2016, Rancic celebrated 5 years cancer-free, saying, "Breast cancer is more of my history,
less of my present, but that doesn't mean I am leaving this battlefield…I can now
declare, with immense gratitude and God's love, that I can feel the sun shining on my
face.
And I can also say that I'm finally…OK."
Baby makes three
In 2012, after openly struggling to conceive, Rancic and her husband were expecting their
first child.
"We struggled so long to have Duke, and went through so much dealing with infertility.
And the fact that we were finally able to have a baby is a blessing, and I never lose
sight of that.”
Just months later, their son, Edward Duke Rancic, was born via surrogate on August 29,
2012.
Rancic shared, "Bill and I are blessed beyond words to welcome Edward into our lives…Thank
you so much to everyone who supported us along the way.
We are so in love with the little guy already!"
"When our little guy's older, we want him to be able to be adventurous!”
“Don't we want him to be safe and like normal?”
The skinny
After covering the 2015 Golden Globes for E!, the internet was abuzz about Rancic's
weight — or lack thereof.
Gossip abounded about whether she had an eating disorder, or if this could be cancer again.
Rancic told People, "I thought to myself, 'God, if someone really thought I had an eating
disorder, what a horrible way to approach it."
The truth was that her cancer-suppressing medication was making her lose weight.
She said, "I look in the mirror and it's hard for me…I am really thin.
I want to look fit and beautiful and sexy, and I can't…I refuse to be broken…I have
so many beautiful things in my life."
"I think when you know the truth, and your family knows the truth, it really doesn’t
bother you.
And for me the biggest thing is, as long as I'm healthy, that's all I care about.”
Leaving E!
In 2015 Rancic left E! News after more than a decade.
She told People, "I took on a challenge 14 years ago.
I was a young reporter, and E! News was my dream job.
It's been an incredible journey."
Her young family has taken center stage these days.
She said, "I've worked day in and day out for 14 years.
I'm looking forward to being able to stay in bed a little longer with Duke every morning
and take him to school and on play dates!"
"Let the craziness begin!”
What's next?
After leaving E!, Rancic was able to take more time to focus on her clothing line, wine,
and slaying the New York Times bestseller list.
"You know, I'm just a big dreamer.
I moved to America as a little girl, and I watched my father try to achieve the American
Dream.
So for me, it was all about achieving the Hollywood Dream.”
She told Michigan Avenue Magazine, "I used to think I was strong, but I didn't realize
how strong I could be.
I remember a great quote that I used to always look at; something along the lines of, 'You
realize your true strength when you have no other choice but to be strong.'"
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