Courtesy: Michaele Salahi and Neal SchonIt's almost time for former Real Housewives of D.C. star Michaele Salahi and Journey guitarist Neal Schon to say "I do," and the lovebirds are opening up about their bumpy road to romance ahead of their nuptials this weekend.
The erstwhile Bravo star and the musician—who are planning to tie the knot at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts—sat down with E! News to chat about their wedding, which will be televised live on pay-per-view, and even joked about whether they're worried if Salahi's former husband Tareq will crash the couple's nuptials.
"That's when I just decided I'm doing it. I'm in love with Neal," Salahi tells E! News, referring to her decision to leave her then-husband for Schon. "We've been best friends. And when you meet your soul mate and he's been mine since the '90s when I first met him. And you can't fight that feeling you have to just go with it. And I've been in love with him for a very long time."
"She then fled to me," the 59-year-old guitarist notes before Salahi adds, "I've never looked back. And I continue to soar and I love him very much."
So does the couple have any concerns that Tareq will crash the wedding (Michaele and Tareq famously made headlines for allegedly crashing the White House State dinner in 2009)?
"No," Michaele said before laughing. "I'm so happy where I'm at….I'm so thankful I never look back."
And Schon certainly shares the same sentiments.
"We just don't think about the past anymore," he said. "We got approached by a lot of different networks…offered us quite a bit of money to film and edit their kind of own version of what they wanted. And I was not so keen on that as I was not so keen on doing reality TV that we got hit up on doing the last two years too. When we started talking about I said we should maybe try to do this and incorporate everything that's going in the Philippines and the typhoon and give the majority of the funds to typhoon relief."
A portion of the Pay-Per-View proceeds from the wedding, which will also feature a performance by Journey, Tower of Power and other musical guest, will be donated to typhoon relief efforts in the Philippines.
As for the the bridal party?
"We have 25 bridesmaids and groomsman," Salahi shares. "And it is going to be a night of energy. Our bridal party has some celebrities. One of yours [is] Sammy Hagar, who we love."
"Everyone in my band is in it," Schon adds. "My son is one of my best men. Michael Carabello. Howie"
"A lot of great people and then I have a lot of fun girls," Michaele says.
Can't wait to see!