Anna Delvey has just acquired another accessory: a pair of dance shoes.
The well-known con artist, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, is joining the cast alongside new professional Ezra Sosa in the 33rd season of “Dancing With the Stars.”
While “DWTS” is taping in LA, it appears Delvey — who still wears an ankle monitor — has been given special permission to compete on the competition series. Sorokin’s spokeswoman Juda Engelmayer confirmed Tuesday that she can travel within a 70-mile radius of her home base and anywhere in the five boroughs of New York City under the conditions of the previous house arrest, according to the Associated Press. However, they could not comment on any changes to those rules.
The 33-year-old “fake heiress” was arrested in 2017 for defrauding major financial institutions, banks, hotels and friends to finance her luxurious lifestyle of more than $250,000 by pretending to be the daughter of a German oil magnate.
Two years later, Delvey was found guilty on eight counts, including attempted grand larceny, second-degree theft and theft of services, but was acquitted on two other counts.
After being sentenced to four to 12 years in prison – including time spent behind bars during the trial – Delvey was released in February 2021.
Despite her release, her legal problems were far from over. Delvey was subsequently arrested by immigration authorities for overstaying her visa.
In 2022, Delvey was released from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody, where she spent over a year at the Orange Country Correctional Facility.
At the time, she told the New York Times: “I definitely have a very different perspective now than I did when I first came out last February. It’s just impossible to have gone through what I went through and not change. I learned so much in prison.”
The public’s fascination with Delvey grew when she became the inspiration for the Netflix series “Inventing Anna.” Like many others, Shonda Rhimes found the con artist’s story particularly compelling. After reading the 2018 New York Magazine article “How Anna Delvey Outsmarted New York’s Party People,” she was instantly “obsessed.”
“I remember calling my office and saying, ‘There’s this article and we have to have it,'” Rhimes, 54, said in a 2022 featurette about the production. “So much of it fascinated me. I always wondered how she uncovered so many of these details.”
The turbulent storyline led the creator of “Grey’s Anatomy” to write “Inventing Anna” from the perspective of the journalist (played by Anna Chlumsky), who viewers thought was based on real-life reporter Jessica.
And yes, Delvey has seen parts of the drama on the streaming platform and finds the fictional version of her (played by Julia Garner) “bolder” than she is.
“I think I’m more conscious of the way I come across, not always, but I just don’t think I’m that brash and shameless,” she told the New York Times.
However, if Delvey wanted to watch the show in its entirety, she would have time to do so, as she has been under house arrest since October 2022. Since her release, the New Yorker has also had to wear an ankle bracelet.
Delvey exclusively told The Post that she really doesn’t want the “spectacle” that comes with wearing the GPS tracker.
“Every time I go out, I get written about wearing the ankle bracelet or showing it off,” she said in August. “People don’t seem to want to accept that I have no choice but to wear it.”
Delvey added: “It’s just that I don’t want to make such a spectacle out of it. I would like to be able to go out without being stared at or not having every delivery guy ask me if I killed my husband or something.”
On her way to a court date in June, she decided to have some fun with the ankle bracelet by placing the letter “A” made of rhinestones on it. “I’ve been wearing one for almost two years. I think once or twice it’s my right to decorate it with rhinestones,” Delvey continued, while an ICE source called her the “decorated bitch.”
But as a new season begins, Delvey has some concerns about fashion.
“I think the biggest hurdle is the over-the-knee boots, but fall is still around the corner,” she admitted. “So far I’ve had bigger problems to worry about.”
Delvey also announced that she will speak with her lawyers about whether she can ask the judge to replace the ankle device with a VeriWatch wristband tracker. So far, she has been successful with previous requests. Delvey asked the immigration judge to allow her to use social media again after claiming it violated her right to free speech, which she was granted.
Delvey’s biggest legal battle will now be whether she can stay in the country long-term and whether or not her two-year prison sentence will be upheld.
She told The Post: “I feel like I’ve spent most of my adult life in the States. All my friends are here. All my projects and everything I’ve worked on is here. And it would be extremely difficult for me to ever come back if I left.”
As it turns out, Dancing With the Stars is just one of many new projects for Delvey. She is currently working with Cutrone on a “pop-up” fashion PR agency called OutLaw Agency.
“I’m really looking forward to Fashion Week. We have so many things in the works. And yes, we’re just working nonstop. It’s the busy season,” she enthused.
After New York Fashion Week is behind her, Delvey plans to put herself on the market for a new apartment in Manhattan that isn’t like the “prison” of her old apartment. “It’s a different feeling to be able to leave your apartment,” the aspiring publicist said of her future home. “I wouldn’t move into a new prison.”
