Maria Menounos Sparks Outrage Giving 'Bad Advice' In Bikini

Maria Menounos has sparked fury on Instagram after promoting sunbathing without wearing sunscreen. The 45-year-old media personality, who made 2023 headlines for documenting her pancreatic cancer battle, updated her account earlier today with a snap of herself sunbathing, and talk in the caption was encouraging fans to do the same, minus any protection. Quoting those she trusts as she explained her thought process, Maria took a matter of hours to garner negative comments, with many deeming her advice to be irresponsible. While one fan called it "bad advice," another said that it was "lethal."

Scroll for the photo. Enjoying a peaceful, sun-soaked terrace as she lay on a lounger, Maria topped up her tan the natural way.

Lying with her eyes closed, the mom of one low-key flaunted her slender figure as she rocked a strapless brown bikini top, but this post wasn't about the stylish swimwear. In a caption, the Live! face wrote: "Soaking up the sun with my bare skin… with no sunscreen! I know that may sound scary to some, especially because we’re told that not protecting our skin is bad. But from what I’m learning, it’s actually not, you just need to learn the safe way to prepare and use your skin :) In fact, could the sunscreen be causing more harm than good?"

Continuing as she placed her trust in neurosurgeon and health educator, Dr. Jack Kuse, plus her naturopath Dr. Alison, the TV star said she's learned that sunscreen actually prevents the skin from performing its "essential things to run your health." Here, she listed the production of melanin and vitamin D as examples.

"As Dr. Kruse said, if the sun was toxic, why would nature require us to get it to make Vitamin D?" she continued.

The comments didn't take long, and it doesn't look like Instagram agrees with anything she's said.

"Yikes, this is bad advice," one fan replied. "Yikes this one is hard to digest as someone whose husband is battling stage 4 melanoma. You can get a sunburn in as little as 11 minutes. I can’t get on board with this one 😞," a popular reply read.

While one fan claimed that no certified dermatologist would ever "support" this statement, another told Maria: "Sorry..this is so wrong. My husband has had 7 melanomas from sun exposure. Wear the damn sunscreen. This is a lie." Maria had posted jointly with the Instagram account run by her Heal Squad show.

Elsewhere, Maria has been making headlines for enjoying life with daughter Athena. Last summer, she and husband Keven Undergaro welcomed their first child via a surrogate.

Maria appears to have disabled comments to her sunbathing post in a swift change of course. Quite possibly, her decision was based on the backlash she'd received.