The fame-seeking duo who crashed a White House state dinner in a shocking security breach were so eager to get on TV’s “Real Housewives of Washington” that they concocted an invite to the president’s party to show the producers what big wheels they were, sources said yesterday.
Michaele and Tareq Salahi are one of several couples in contention to be featured on the Bravo show, for which casting has not been finalized. They have been trailed by cameras for months as producers tried to assemble players.
PHOTOS: WHITE HOUSE PARTY CRASHERS
The Salahis — whose brazen stunt has led to an investigation of Secret Service security measures — may have been trying to ice the “Housewives” deal by showing that they’re a Beltway power couple, said one source.
But another said, “They weren’t necessarily trying to secure a spot on the show. It just seemed more like they were trying to create the illusion that they were well-connected people in Washington.”
After telling producers “they were invited” to Washington’s most exclusive soiree of the year — the Tuesday-night state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh — the Salahis spent eight hours in front of the cameras being groomed, said a Bravo spokeswoman.
Officials with Half Yard Productions, which is behind the series, took the couple’s word for it, and “the producers had no reason to believe otherwise,” the spokeswoman said.
The charade almost came crashing down when a hairstylist working on Michaele’s blond mane asked to see the invite.
“She starts rummaging through her purse, and then said, ‘It must be out in the car,’ ” James Packard-Gomez, the CEO of the Erwin Gomez Salon, told The Post.
Afterward, the camera crew followed the couple to the White House, where they caused a stir among the A-list capital crowd lining up to get in.
At first, the pair was denied entry.
“There was a holdup and I then realized there was an SUV that had to make a complicated turn to get out of there,” NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams recalled.
“Their car had been rejected by the Secret Service. They weren’t allowed to go in that entrance. So they got out of the SUV.
“We noticed this couple had at least one television camera following them. And the woman hopped out of the car, followed by a makeup woman who fluffed up her hair. Then the makeup woman turned her attention to the man.
“I saw the makeup artist powdering his forehead — an unusual sight on the street corner on a weeknight in Washington, DC.”
The couple then made their way to another entrance — where, in a startling lapse of White House security, they shmoozed their way inside.
At the gala, the Salahis rubbed elbows with Vice President Joe Biden and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, with whom they had their pictures taken. The photos were later posted on Facebook.
The TV camera crew was not allowed inside.
“I later saw the couple at cocktail hour in the East Room. They looked like perfectly normal guests at a state dinner. He was in a tux, like all of us. She was in an Indian-style, very vivid red dress,” Williams said.
“They looked like all the other guests. I lost track of them in the crowd, and saw them once again later. Then, when the story broke, I got a text message from my wife. She said that couple we saw last night on the sidewalk, they crashed the party.”
The Salahis apparently did not stay for dinner, and left without being detected.
Bravo confirmed that Michaele Salahi “is under consideration as a cast member.”
The Salahis’ spokeswoman, Mahogany Jones, quoted their lawyer, Paul Gardner, as stating “emphatically that the Salahi couple did not ‘crash’ this event.”
But she did say that the couple was “honored to be a part of such a prestigious event . . . They both had a wonderful time,” according to The Washington Post.
“At this time, the Salahis will not make any formal comments,” but they “look forward to setting the record straight very soon,” Jones added.
The Salahis are slated to appear on CNN’s “Larry King Live” on Monday.
Although the White House insists that the Salahis passed through metal detectors before gaining entry to the party and that President Obama was never in danger, experts called it an amazing lapse.
White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers — who put together the guest list — admitted no one from her office was at the checkpoint.
The pathetic bid for reality-show fame was reminiscent of the recent “Balloon Boy” stunt, in which Richard Heene duped Colorado authorities into thinking his son had floated away in a homemade balloon to convince Hollywood producers to put his wacky family on TV.
The Salahis are well-known socialites in DC, particularly among the northern Virginia horsey set.
Tareq, the captain of the US polo team, had arranged a match with India in June for America’s Polo Cup.
And serving as the honorary patron of the match is India’s ambassador to the United States, Meera Shankar, who has spoken at America’s Polo Cup events this year and has been photographed with the Salahis.
The Salahis are ubiquitous on the social scene, insinuating their way close to celebrities and having their pictures taken.
In Facebook photos, the couple is seen staking out prime spots for Obama’s inauguration — even getting inside the first family’s glass-enclosed viewing area after a Lincoln Memorial concert.
There are also photos of them with Oprah Winfrey, Donnie Osmond and the cast of “Dancing with the Stars,” Sen. John McCain and Prince Charles.
Despite presenting themselves as deep-pocketed philanthropists the couple appears to be in financial straits.
Tareq has been embroiled in a years-long feud with his parents over the family’s Virginia winery, which filed for bankruptcy in February.
The family has been trying to sell the business because, his parents said, Tareq ran it into the ground, piling up as many as 50 creditors and almost $1 million in debt while he was its president.
Among its creditors are the Washington Redskins, for whom Michaele used to be a cheerleader. The couple owes the team $224,000 for season tickets. They also had a $57,000 Carver Mariner yacht, an $80,000 Aston Martin and an Audi that were repossessed.
There is also a $3.5 million fraud suit against the company, plus hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit-card debt and legal fees.
A catering company has sued Tareq Salahi for more than $300,000, claiming he never paid the bill for food for a polo-charity event.
Meanwhile, a purported nonprofit run by the Salahis — Journey for a Cure, which has claimed to raise millions for research on multiple sclerosis — was flagged in May by Virginia consumer-affairs officials for failing to apply for tax-exempt status.
“Contributors are cautioned that their contributions to [the] organization may be used for noncharitable purposes,” the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said in a statement.
The Salahis did finally register the charity with the IRS, but did not file financial documents, claiming the group takes in less than $25,000 a year.