The classic family-favorite show, Dancing With the Stars, kicked off its newest season on September 17th, premiering episodes every Tuesday at 8 p.m. (EST) on ABC and Disney+. DWTS Season 33 kicked off with a bang with celebrity participants including Olympians Ilona Maher and Stephen Nedoroscik; reality TV stars Joey Graziadei, Jenn Tran, and Phaedra Parks; athletes Danny Amendola and Dwight Howard; actors Chandler Kinney, Eric Roberts, Tori Spelling, and Reginald VelJohnson, and model Brooks Nader. But, most infamously, the lineup included a controversial celeb: Anna Delvey.Â
Notorious for her role in conning socialites, Delvey is the first person on Dancing With the Stars to have ever served time in jail. Under the pseudonym “Anna Delvey,” Anna Sorokin falsified a glamorous life by pretending to be a German heiress, living a luxurious life in New York. In reality, Delvey was a Russian immigrant with almost no money to her name. From 2013 to 2017, Delevy accumulated nearly $275,000 of debt from asking organizations and friends to provide hotels, flights, luxury items, etc., under the false pretense that she would be able to pay them back. What was Delvey’s end goal with this much money? The Anna Delvey Foundation. This foundation encompassed the “ideal image” of a private members’ club and art foundation, which involved leasing the Church Missions House, utilizing the venue for multi-purpose events, and an art studio. Eventually, her swindling came to a halt as she continued to rack up thousands of dollars of unpaid bills and fake bank statements. Delvey was indicted in 2019 and later found guilty on eight counts of grand larceny. Delvey was sentenced to four to twelve years in state prison on Rikers Island and fined a significant amount to repay institutions. Initially, in February of 2021, Delvey was released, but not long after, she was taken back into custody for overstaying her visa. After being deported from the United States back to Germany in 2022, Delvey was placed on house arrest back in her New York residence.Â
Not only has Delvey served time in jail, but she was also required to wear an ankle monitor as part of the agreed terms of her release from incarceration. Upon permission from immigration, Delivery was permitted to participate in Dancing With the Stars. Delvey wore her ankle monitor for the duration of her time on the show. She and her professional partner, Ezra Sosa, made an effort to work around the ankle monitor in their first week of performances, but eventually, the two took pride in their situation’s uniqueness and bedazzled the monitor with jewels coordinating with the colors of their next week’s outfit. The pair was eliminated in week two of the show, and although their run was short-lived, the rarity of such an infamous celeb definitely caught the attention of the public audience.Â
Many avid fans of the show feel that allowing Delvey to participate in such a large franchise as Dancing With the Stars gives her a large platform and rewards unlawful behavior. Others think that it will finally give Delvey the platform she needs to reform her public image and present herself in a more positive light, perhaps earning a second chance. Either way, this controversial celeb choice has given Delvey an increase in popularity and highlighted her in the public eye, which she has not seen since her original story came out.Â
Now, Anna Delevy is still riding the wave of the recent Netflix series Inventing Anna. The series encapsulates her story by following the authentic case closely. Anna also makes appearances at fashion shows, including stepping out for New York Fashion Week. Alongside this, she has begun a podcast called The Anna Delvey Show. Similarly, she debuted her vocals in a feature on a new single, “What The Hell?” by rising country star Brooke Butler.