She’s on house arrest, fighting deportation … and competing on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Anna Sorokin was released from prison three years ago and has spent much of her time since then on house arrest, but she has still managed to stay in the spotlight.
Thanks to the hit Netflix series “Inventing Anna,” the convicted fraudster — who conned friends and businesses in New York into giving her money under the guise of being Anna Delvey, a German heiress with a $60 million fortune who wanted to launch an art foundation — has seen her popularity skyrocket since her release from prison.
Following her release, Sorokin spent 18 months in ICE custody for overstaying her visa. During this time, she managed to put on an expensive art show, highlighting pieces she drew with limited materials she had access to while fighting deportation to Germany, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Now Sorokin — who has been on house arrest for close to a year — has announced her next big chapter: She’s competing on “Dancing With the Stars.”
Sorokin, who is described in an ABC news release as the “notorious ankle bracelet fashionista,” has been paired with Utah dancer Ezra Sosa on the upcoming season of “Dancing With the Stars.” Sosa, who is from Provo, made it to the top six of “So You Think You Can Dance” in 2019, as the Deseret News reported at the time.
“Thrilled to be hitting the dance floor with someone who knows how to keep everyone on their toes — both in and out of the ballroom,” Sosa shared in an Instagram post. “We’re ready to hustle our way to the top — just without the wire transfers this time.”
Sorokin joins a celebrity cast that includes Olympics hero Stephen Nedoroscik, known as “Pommel Horse Guy,” NBA star Dwight Howard and Jenn Tran, the most recent “Bachelorette.”
“Some view her as a cunning scam artist, while others see her as a charismatic and ambitious entrepreneur who took advantage of New York City’s social elite in an effort to open a prestigious art studio,” reads the news release description about Sorokin. “Her case has also sparked discussions about wealth, privilege and social climbing in modern society. Her story continues to captivate the public’s imagination.”
Even after serving her sentence, Sorokin has said she doesn’t consider herself to be a con artist, as the Deseret News previously reported.
“I never was doing anything so super-crazy,” she said, according to The Cut. “There’s people spending way more money than I did. People assumed I was trying to impress anybody, but 40, 50, 60 million … that’s borderline poor in New York. There’s so many rich people there, you can’t even impress anybody.
“I do see what I did wrong,” she concluded, according to The Cut. “But so many people are doing worse things.”
Sorokin’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, confirmed to The Associated Press that previous house arrest conditions allowed Sorokin to travel within 70 miles of her home in New York. Sorokin told People that after “Dancing With the Stars” approached her team, she had to request permission from ICE to film the show in Los Angeles. She said the approval took roughly 10 days.
Sorokin will wear her ankle monitor throughout the season.
“In what way would it affect my performance? It’s actually pretty light,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.
Below is the full cast of “Dancing With the Stars” Season 33, per the ABC news release:
The new season of “Dancing With the Stars” premieres Sept. 17 and airs on ABC and Disney+. Episodes will be available to stream the following day on Hulu.