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Last week, Anna Delvey and her dance partner, Ezra Sosa, were one of the first two couples eliminated on this season of Dancing With the Stars (the other couple was Tori Spelling and Pasha Pashkov). Anna’s brief time on the show was controversial, from her bedazzled ICE-mandated ankle monitor to her lackluster performances and snotty exit interviews. Not to mention that everyone was wondering why a convicted felon on house arrest who was facing deportation was even invited on as a contestant in the first place.
Anna claimed that she wanted to reinvent herself and change people’s minds about her, but she’s been doing a pretty crap job at the follow-through. So far, she’s told Julianne Hough that she would take “nothing” away from her DWTS experience and Good Morning America that “getting eliminated” was her favorite part about the show. For her latest trick, Anna spoke with NBC News to accuse DWTS of being “predatory” and “exploiting” her for attention. LMAO.
She feels like the show “used” her for ratings: “I feel that the show so obviously used me to drive up the ratings, that they never had any plans to give me any chance to grow and only cared about exploiting me for attention,” Sorokin wrote in an email. “It was predatory of them to try [to] make me feel inadequate and stupid all while I did get progressively better yet they chose to disregard that.”
Life’s not fair, babe: “It felt like I was never really given a fair chance by the viewers or some of the judges’ given their nonsensical scoring. It’s supposed to be a dance competition and not a popularity contest.”
She had hesitations: To join the show, which Sorokin admitted she was “hesitant” about, she had to get permission from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to compete in Los Angeles, far outside her 75-mile house arrest radius based in New York.
The One Where Viewers Read Her for Filth: Viewers immediately expressed outrage when ABC announced that the “notorious ankle bracelet fashionista” would appear on the show’s 33rd season, demanding the network “stop glorifying” a felon. “DWTS” alum and choreographer Maksim Chmerkovskiy called her a “professional liar” and mocked her dancing on a TMZ podcast. “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg lamented that Sorokin received “special treatment” from the government to compete. Sorokin said the backlash over her casting made her realize “how easily people will judge you without getting to know you or the true facts of your story.”
Showrunner Conrad Green on Anna’s casting: “Anna is fascinating to a lot of people… so I think there is an inherent curiosity about her,” Green said. “She’s a very valid and interesting part of that cast. Yes, she had the issues she’s had, but we’ve had other people on the show who’ve had criminal issues in the past.”
The double standard of it all: Sorokin also noted that convicted felons have appeared on the show and were not similarly shamed. “I’m trying to start a new chapter moving past mistakes I made and regret when I was much younger. Not sure when people will finally afford me that second chance and stop persecuting me so I have the opportunity to move on with my life.”
On crying when people were mean about her first dance: “I hadn’t been on social media in over seven years. I felt good after my first dance but was not prepared for the hatred directed at me online and just how mean-spirited people can be hiding behind their keyboards,” she said of her emotional reaction.
She’s not watching the show: Sorokin said she probably won’t keep up with the show as it continues, but she hopes actor Reginald VelJohnson will win. “I don’t watch TV,” she added.
OMG. “They used me for ratings” is just laughable on so many levels. First of all, Anna’s whole thing is being predatory and using people for gain. Sorry you got a taste of your own medicine, babe! Second of all, DUH. Of course they cast her for ratings. They literally cast everyone on those shows because they think they’ll be a good mix of both well-liked and controversial figures to entice viewers to tune in and root for or against them! Do you think they cast Pommel Horse Guy (who is awesome BTW) because he’s just another charming face? No! It’s because he went viral! Goodness, Anna, girl, you know how the game is played! She’s just mad that she lost and is throwing a hissy fit to stay in the news. It’s just funny that she doesn’t realize that none of this is doing anything to actually endear herself to anyone. She should take the $125,000 she made for being on two episodes and use it on lawyer’s fees or whatever.