Convicted fraudster Anna Delvey says her journey to the final season of “Dancing With the Stars” included one more step.
The fashionista scammer, who inspired the Netflix series “Inventing Anna” and was convicted in 2019 of eight felonies, including grand larceny, said she sought approval from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before traveling from New York to Los Angeles to film the long-running ABC celebrity competition show. Delvey (real name Anna Sorokin) will be among 13 stars vying for the ultimate Mirror Ball trophy when “DWTS” returns later this month.
“I was talked into doing this. I got permission from ICE and then it was too late to back out,” Delvey told the Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday, shortly after her involvement was announced.
Delvey, 33, was released from prison in February 2021 and taken into ICE custody months later after immigration authorities said she overstayed her visa and should return to her native Germany. In October 2022, a judge ruled that Delvey could be confined to her home while she fights her deportation case. Delvey was also ordered to wear an ankle bracelet.
Now, the monitor is a fixture in Delvey's ballroom.
When “DWTS” unveiled its full lineup, it described Delvey in a press release as a “famous ankle bracelet fashionista” who will be partnered with pro Ezra Sosa. Delvey’s “DWTS” cast photo shows her in a gold sequin dress and pumps with her ankle bracelet just above her right foot.
Con artist Anna Delvey, who inspired Netflix’s “Inventing Anna,” will star in season 33 of ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars.”
(Andrew Eccles/Disney)
Asked if the anklet would affect her movement, Delvey told THR that “it's actually pretty light.”
Prior to her “DWTS” debut, Delvey faced criticism on social media for her casting. Some fans on a Reddit page dedicated to “DWTS” questioned Devley’s “star” status, referring to her scamming people and businesses out of $275,000. Other fans joked, “This is iconic.”
Delvey's casting also became a topic of conversation on Thursday's episode of “The View,” with co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg, Sunny Hostin, Joy Behar and Sara Haines sharing their thoughts.
“I think of all the families whose relatives were arrested by ICE, who went to court to get their father, their brother or their mother back, and this woman was given permission to do that,” Goldberg said. “Now, should I think there’s a reason … there’s a two-tier system here with ICE?”
Hostin added: “I like that there is promotion, but when are there consequences for people’s actions?”
Amid the backlash, Delvey told People: “It's just not that big of a deal.”
“If someone is that upset about having to participate in a dance show, I don't know what to say,” she added.
Olympians Ilona Maher and Stephen Nedoroscik, “Bachelorette” star Jenn Tran, Dwight Howard, Tori Spelling and Phaedra Parks are also among the latest celebrity dance competitors.
Season 33 of “Dancing With the Stars,” co-hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, premieres Sept. 17 on ABC.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
