Vanessa Minnillo Keeps Her Options Open at The Insider

We've been hearing all sorts of wild rumors about trouble within pop culture giant MTV. Seems like the network is running low on money and some staffers are getting the axe. The latest bit of news might inspire VJ Vanessa Minnillo to think about her next career move, as word on the street has one of the network's few remaining music shows TRL getting cancelled.

(As an aside, we're no business whizzes here, but we're not exactly surprised that MTV is tanking. Remember when those letters actually stood for Music TeleVision?)

Of course Vanessa’s publicist would probably spin it another way, it’s been suggested that MTV is using the recent layoffs as an excuse to not renew the VJ’s contract when it comes up in April. The short list of replacements includes former Miss USA and current TRL co-VJ Susie Castillo. (Incidentally, Vanessa was also once a pageant girl – winning the Miss Teen USA competition in 1998, proving that beauty might be more important than music when it comes to picking on-air talent.)

But Susie’s promotion can only come true if TRL has a future, which it may not. A number of off-camera personnel have already gotten the boot both at MTV and sister station VH1.

So what will Vanessa do if she’s no longer spending her days hobnobbing with rappers and singers? Well, she’ll probably continue to hang out with the musical set, what with being joined at the lip to Nick Lachey, starring in music videos, and gracing magazine covers.

As for the troubled network, what can we say? We’re not worried about Vanessa Minnillo, we just want our MTV.