Dancing With the Stars Season 33 will include Anna Delvey among its star-studded cast, and some have expressed outrage over the decision.
Viewers learned about the DWTS Season 33 cast through leaks, but an official reveal arrived on Good Morning America with all the celebrities and their professional dance partners present.
Delvey was among them and fittingly appeared at the GMA studio with an interesting and required accessory: her ankle monitor bracelet.
She also wore the device with a glamorous dress in her promotional photo for Season 33.
Many fans reacted with joy to seeing that Delvey visibly wore the item for her promo image.
However, others were frustrated to see someone convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison in the latest DWTS cast.
Fans react to ‘disgraceful’ Season 33 cast decision
During Good Morning America, they revealed that Delvey will partner with dance professional Ezra Sosa to try to claim the Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy.
The pair appears in the eighth slide below, although Delvey’s ankle monitor bracelet isn’t visible in the photo.
Commenters reacted to the Season 33 cast reveal in the comment section of GMA’s Instagram post.
One fan commented, “Having Anna Delvey on the show is WILD,” with another replying, “More than that, it’s just wrong. Down right criminal I tell ya.”
“Really Anna Delvey? That’s disappointing. Let’s reward bad behavior. Isn’t she pending deportation?” a fan asked in the comments.
Another fan said that “Delvey’s sob stories should be interesting” for viewers to see on DWTS.
“Why is a con artist considered a ‘star’???” another commenter asked.
On X, formerly known as Twitter, additional fans called out the decision to include Delvey in the cast.
“A complete disgrace to our country dancing as a star. Exactly the opposite message we should be sending our children,” one X commenter said.
Another commenter on ABC News’ X post called it a “disgrace,” asking, “WHY are you normalizing criming and con artists?”
“Great messaging for all the kids watching — don’t give a crap about your pithy packages on her backstory,” the individual commented.
Who is DWTS 33’s Anna Delvey?
Delvey, also known as Anna Sorokin, made headlines as a con artist and fraudster who posed as a wealthy heiress to infiltrate the social and art scenes of New York.
She was able to keep up her act for several years but ultimately got arrested in 2017 during a New York Police Department sting operation. Delvey’s former friend, Rachel DeLoache Williams, accused her of defrauding her of $62,000 while she posed as an heiress.
It resulted in a prison sentence of four to 12 years in 2019. Delvey served just two years before she was remanded to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement so they could deport her to Germany.
In October 2022, she was released from prison and required to remain in her home 24 hours a day with electronic monitoring, explaining the noticeable accessory she is wearing in her promotional photo.
Her story became the basis of a TV miniseries called Inventing Anna, which Netflix released several years ago. Actress Julia Garner portrays Delvey.
During GMA’s cast reveal, Lara Spencer mentioned Delvey’s headlines for going through the “fraud trial” and asked what she wanted viewers to know about her.
“How good I am at cha-cha,” she joked, adding, “Of course,” when asked if she was confident in her abilities to compete for the trophy.
Dancing With the Stars Season 33 premieres Tuesday, September 17 at 8/7c on ABC and Disney+.
Just another pathetic message to our youth!