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On Tuesday, Anna Delvey and her dance partner Ezra Sosa were one of the first two couples eliminated from this season of Dancing With the Stars. The other couple eliminated was Tori Spelling and Pasha Pashkov. While Anna and Ezra’s elimination wasn’t a complete surprise – she wasn’t very good and faced a lot of backlash from people who wondered why the heck she was on the show in the first place – her final words did cause a bit of an uproar. When host Julianne Hough asked her after being voted out what she’d take from her time with the show, Anna giggled and replied, “Nothing.”
On Wednesday, Entertainment Weekly spoke with DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba, who had been outspoken in her support for the audience treating Anna respectfully. Naturally, they asked her about Anna’s final words. Carrie Ann responded by saying that she was “taken aback” by Anna’s snotty response, noting that it was pretty dismissive of not only the chance the show took on her but disrespectful to Ezra as well. Carrie Ann felt that Anna could have continued her redemption bid by being graceful and grateful about her experience.
Entertainment Weekly: Anna Delvey and Tori Spelling were the first two contestants to go home. Did either of those results surprise you?
Carrie Ann Inaba: I was taken aback by [Anna’s] comment when asked what she learned from being on the show, and she flatly said, “Nothing.” That was dismissive not only of the opportunity she was given, of her wonderful and supportive partner Ezra in his debut season, but also of all of us who work on the show-from the dancers to behind the scenes to the creative team. We all put in the effort to give her a fair opportunity. But I don’t think she could see that and it’s a shame. A little gratitude could have changed the narrative.
EW: You urged viewers to give Anna a chance on the premiere. Do you feel like this result means they did not?
Carrie Ann: I think our audience did what felt right to them. And that’s the beauty of DWTS for our fans. Our fans are passionate and engaged and they vote for who they want to win the Mirrorball trophy. But I’d like to point out something important. Our fans don’t vote people off. That is not our format. Unlike Survivor we don’t vote people off. Our fans vote for who they want to win.
Carrie Ann is completely right here. Anna claims that this whole experience was supposed to be about changing people’s perspective and opinion of her. I think she would have gotten a more positive spin if she had taken the elimination in good stride, like Tori Spelling did. The game isn’t over just because you’re not a contestant anymore, if you know what I mean.
And if you think that everyone is making too big of a deal about Anna’s “Nothing!” comment, her full exit interview with Ezra for Good Morning, America was equally awkward. At one point, she mentions that her second chance had been “wasted.” Poor Ezra tries his best to steer her in the right direction and he really makes an admirable attempt, but it takes her a hot minute to take his cues. When asked what her favorite part about being on the show was, Ezra tries to coax her into saying that it was dancing with him, but she ignores him at first to respond, “Getting eliminated.” He steps in then to have them ask her again, in which she then correctly responds that it was dancing with him and then they pivot to talking about her fashion, including the blinged-out ankle monitor. Woo boy. It’s an awkward watch. I can’t tell if she really was flustered and thrown off her game or if it was the true Anna coming out. I do think, however, that this will probably be the end of her very short-lived reality TV career.