Salahis Turn to Speidi's Strategy for Extra 30 Seconds of Fame

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Infamous fame-hungry White House gatecrashers Tareq and Michaele Salahi, seeing their already-limited starpower dimming with the cancellation of Real Housewives of D.C., have turned to another tabloid monster couple for inspiration: Spencer Pratt and Heidi Montag. After the fake "kidnapping" of Michaele Wednesday -- Just kidding everybody! She really ran off with Neal Schon, guitarist for Journey! -- TMZ's headline quotes Tareq saying, "I'm divorcing that bitch!" The (at least semi-fictional) plot continues.  

In August, The New York Times' Austin Considine wrote that despite the demise of their reality show, the Salahis are "determined to extend their fame beyond its proverbial 15 minutes." But it looks like the frenzy of activities Considine described -- the Victory Cup polo match, a state legislator's fundraiser, a movie screening in Nashville, a dance single, an upcoming Playboy spread  -- were not enough to keep the fame alive. That explains why the Salahis are now taking a page from the reality show horror story of Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt, who moved from having camera crew film the most important events of their lives to planning the most important events of their lives for the camera. Montag and Pratt -- called Speidi by the tabloids -- had two weddings (double the wedding photos to sell) in 2008 and 2009, and then filed for divorce in July 2010. Three months later, they reconciled, admitting the divorce was a stunt to help Montag's career. They later renewed their wedding vows.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.