‘Inventing Anna’ Subject Anna Delvey Has To Wear Ankle Monitor To Compete On ‘Dancing With The Stars’

Anna Sorokin, better known publicly as Anna Delvey who was the real-life subject of the Netflix series Inventing Anna, will have to wear her ankle monitor during her appearance on the 33rd season of  ABC’s Dancing With The Stars.

The 33-year-old con artist first gained notoriety in 2017 when she posed as a wealthy German heiress and socialite. In the late 2010s, she used this false reputation to commit fraud against banks, hotels and other noble institutions throughout New York City. In 2017, she was arrested and convicted of grand larceny in the first degree. Two years later, she was convicted again, having been charged with theft of services.

Delvey’s 12-year prison sentence was cut short when she was released for good behavior in February 2021. She was promptly taken into custody by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement for violating the terms of her visa. Since then, she has been living in New York City while fighting the possibility of deportation back to her home country of Russia.

Delvey told People how the team behind Dancing With The Stars had “approached my team, and I had to request ICE for permission to travel out of state because it’s being filmed in Los Angeles, and I’m based in New York… It took them about ten days to get it through the system and to get everything approved.” 

“By the time I got the approval, it was very close to the starting day, so I flew to L.A. pretty much the next day, and I just decided, why not?” Delvey added.

Delvey addressed the possibility of backlash from the controversial casting choice. In response, Devley said, “It’s just not that serious. If someone is that upset about casting on a dancing show, I don’t know what to tell them.”

Delvey said her ankle monitor would have little to no impact on her ability to compete.

“In what way would it affect my performance? It’s actually pretty light,” she remarked. Her professional parter will be Ezra Sosa.

The cast includes Phaedra Parks, Eric Roberts, Dwight Howard, Brooks Nader, Chandler Kinney, Stephen Nedoroscik and Reginald VelJohnson.

Season 33 premieres on Sept. 17, at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, and the episode is available to stream the next day on Hulu.