Delvey earned notoriety after she was found guilty of theft of services and grand larceny after she scammed hotels and banks out of US$200,000.
Her life story of fooling the socialites of New York inspired the Netflix show ‘Inventing Anna’, after a New York feature by writer Jessica Pressler was adapted for the screen by Shonda Rhimes.
In reality, Delvey - real name Anna Sorokin - is the daughter of Russian immigrants who lived in Germany and was a fashion magazine intern.
Following her conviction, Delvey was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison but was released on house arrest in 2021 but was taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for overstaying her visa. In 2022 a judge allowed her to fight her case against being deported while on house arrest.
Delvey and her ankle monitor will now partner up with Ezra Sosa, after she received permission from ICE to take part.
“They offered it to me, and then I had to get permission from ICE to travel out of state. That took about 10 days,” Delvey told Entertainment Weekly.
“I didn’t really know until very last minute if I was going to able to do it or not, and then it was kind of too late to say no, so, I’m just here.”
The show is leaning into the reason for Delvey’s infamy, describing her as a "notorious ankle bracelet fashionista", and the promotional pictures showing her ankle monitor on display.
Delvey will be competing against 90210’s Tori Spelling, as well as U.S. Olympic heroes - pommel horse guy Stephen Nedoroscik, and social media sensation and Rugby 7s star Ilona Maher.
Image: Dancing With The Stars
