Although Anna Delvey did her best, her time in the ballroom was cut short.
The 33-year-old celebrity con artist – whose real name is Anna Sorokin – was eliminated from “Dancing With the Stars” on Tuesday night during Week 2. When asked by co-host Julianne Hough what she took away from her ballroom experience, she bluntly replied: “Nothing.”
Her pro partner Ezra Sosa seemed shocked by her outrageous answer and raised his eyebrows in surprise. Hough, 36, politely laughed off the response before ending the episode.
As the performers said goodbye and left the stage, dancer Alan Bersten and contestant Dwight Howard were seen hugging Delvey and Sosa, 23, as they left the stage.
After the elimination, Delvey was seen smiling while walking backstage, according to People. For their final dance of the show, Delvey and Sosa danced the quickstep to the theme song from The Devil Wears Prada, “Suddenly I See” by KT Tunstall.
Sosa choreographed the dance to playfully poke fun at Delvey’s aloof demeanor. Although she cracked a smile this time, it wasn’t enough to save the fashionista from being voted out.
Delvey first rose to fame by posing as a wealthy German heiress and using her social status to defraud rich people, banks and hotels. After her arrest in 2017, she was convicted in 2019 of first, second and third degree grand larceny and theft of services. Her participation in the show outraged many fans due to these past crimes.
And viewers were not happy when Delvey showed up at the season 33 premiere last week wearing a rhinestone-embellished ankle bracelet.
Introduced as a “fashionista and entrepreneur” at the start of the show, the New York native took to the dance floor wearing an ankle bracelet encrusted with rhinestones that matched her blue, purple, pink and yellow ensemble. The device appeared to be tied with a bow.
During the segment, Delvey explained why she has to wear the device. “I overstayed my visa because I was in prison, so it’s pretty hard to get out,” she said with a slight giggle.
“I’ve served my sentence,” Delvey noted, saying she hopes to change critics’ minds.
“I have reinvented myself many times and this time I’m going to be a ballroom dancer.”
And Judge Carrie Ann Inaba addressed the obvious in her critique.
“I just want to say something. When you came out on the dance floor, the energy in that room was different,” Inaba said. “And I just want to say, let’s all give this a chance, because I can imagine that this scares you, and I’m not for or against anything you’ve done. But this is about your dancing.”
As time ran out, she summed up her thoughts on Delvey’s “DWTS” debut, adding, “Let’s all please give her that space.”
Delvey revealed that when she was cast in the series, she received a special permit from ICE, which took her into custody in 2021. She was required to participate in the series on the condition that she would wear the device. Delvey had previously served a sentence in state prison and paid restitution before her release in February 2021.
Delvey’s spokeswoman Juda Engelmayer confirmed, according to the Associated Press, that under current house arrest conditions, she can move within a 70-mile radius of her home base and anywhere in the five boroughs of New York City. However, she could not comment on any changes to these rules.
Following last week’s show, Sosa, who was promoted to pro dancer for season 33, made a TikTok video on Monday responding to the negativity his partner has experienced.
“I, for one, was so positive,” he said. “My partner wasn’t. I think the worst part of my day after the press conference was that she was reading the comments and we couldn’t find her. They finally found her in the bathroom. She was crying. I’d never seen her like that before and it broke my heart.”
On Tuesday’s episode, Delvey’s girlfriend, actress Julia Fox, echoed her partner’s sentiments, saying Delvey’s tough exterior was a form of self-protection.
“Although Anna has a tough exterior, it’s obviously a defense mechanism,” Fox said on camera.
