WASHINGTON: The Washington area couple alleged to have gatecrashed a White House gala dinner spoke out for the first time today, insisting that they were invited to attend the exclusive event.

“We were invited, not crashers,” said Michaele Salahi, speaking to NBC’s “Today Show” program.

“There isn’t anyone that would have the audacity or the poor behaviour to do that... certainly not us,” she said.

She and her husband Tareq managed to skirt a tight White House security cordon to attend last week’s state dinner, in honour of visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, one of the most exclusive and high-security social events of the Washington social calendar.

The event was also attended by long roster of Washington’s most high-powered officials, as well as luminaries from the entertainment and business worlds. The staunch denial by the couple, who also are reported to be aspiring reality television stars, came as the US Secret Service was conducting a comprehensive investigation into how they were able to breach several layers of security to get into the White House event.

The House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee said on Monday that it also would seek to interview the Salahis and the head of the Secret Service as part of an investigation into the incident.

The couple told NBC that they were “devastated” by the continuing swirl of rumours and allegations since the state dinner, each saying during the interview that “our lives have been ruined” by the scandal.

However, White House spokesman Robert

Gibbs told NBC in a separate interview that the couple was not on the guest list for the event and there had been

no misunderstanding. “They were not on a list here at the White House,” Gibbs said.

“They had been told on a number of occasions that they did not have tickets to that dinner,” he said.

“This wasn’t a misunderstanding. You don’t show up at the White House as a misunderstanding,” Gibbs said, adding that the “matter is continuing to be looked into criminally.” The guest list read like a who’s who of the most powerful people in Washington. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Defence Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were among those invited. The Salahis reportedly are candidates to participate in a reality television show called “Real Housewives,” which follows the lives of rich female socialites in various US cities. Michaele Salahi quickly plastered her Facebook page with photos of her night out.

The pair described themselves as “honoured to be invited” to the dinner, and posted photographs showing one or both of them with various high-profile guests, including Vice President Joseph Biden.

Despite the lavish lifestyle the couple appears to lead, their financial situation is reportedly precarious after a family spat over a winery business.