Don’t stop believin’…that the Salahis are giving up on their 15 minutes of fame.
When White House party-crasher and Real Housewives star Michaele Salahi disappeared this week, her husband Tareq alerted the local police. Though he claimed that she was kidnapped, Michaele in fact had run off to Tennessee with Journey guitarist Neal Schon. The band’s publicity rep, Scoop Marketing, told TMZ that “nobody kidnapped [Michaele] and they are in Memphis together,” where Journey is currently touring.
After his wife missed a hair appointment on Tuesday, Tareq reported her kidnapping to the Warren County Sheriff’s Department (WCSD) in northern Virginia. Hours later, Michaele called Tareq from an unknown phone number with an Oregon area code, claiming that she was with her mother. A suspicious Tareq contacted his mother-in-law, who confirmed that she had not heard from Michaele.
Fearing that Michaele had been abducted and that their previous conversation was monitored, Tareq reached out to the WCSD once again. Luckily for him, Michaele had contacted the authorities in the meantime. She assured police that she was not in any danger, was with a friend, and was where she wanted to be. Police then continued the game of telephone by informing Tareq that the WCSD had spoken with Michaele and she had not been kidnapped, but left of her own volition.
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Tareq is said to be devastated, but relieved that his wife is safe. There is no word on whether they will seek a divorce.
The Salahis first leapt into the public eye when they crashed a White House State Dinner in 2009. The incident was later shown on The Real Housewives of DC, on which Michaele was a cast member. Dispute over how the two gained entrance to the top-security event (they insist they were invited, while White House officials maintained that they were not) led to a congressional inquiry and the resignation of White House social secretary Desiree Rogers.
(MORE: A Real Housewife Crashes a White House Party)
After The Real Housewives of DC was canned, Michaele was set to star in VH1’s Celebrity Rehab, until producers realized she had no addiction (except to fame) and booted her off the show. This summer she released her debut single “Bump It.”
Perhaps the next step for the couple will be to appear on NBC’s The Marriage Ref?
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Allison Berry is a contributor at TIME. You can continue the discussion on TIME’s Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.