Anna Sorokin, infamous for her elaborate deception as a wealthy socialite in New York, will soon be making headlines again—this time on “Dancing With The Stars.” Known to many as Delvey, Sorokin has joined this year’s cast, which also features Olympic stars Ilona Maher and Stephen Nedoroscik, as well as actress Tori Spelling, Oscar nominee Eric Roberts, and Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Phaedra Parks.
Sorokin will be paired with professional dancer Ezra Sosa, though her participation comes with a notable condition: she will be wearing an ankle monitor. Since 2022, Sorokin has been under house arrest while she battles a deportation order. Her spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, confirmed that Sorokin is permitted to travel within a 70-mile radius of her home and throughout New York City, but declined to comment on any changes to these conditions.
In 2019, Sorokin was convicted of theft of services and grand larceny after swindling over $200,000 (£145,000) from banks and luxury hotels. Posing as a wealthy heiress with a supposed $60 million trust fund, she managed to convince others to cover her extravagant expenses. In reality, Sorokin was a magazine intern from a modest Russian immigrant family living in Germany.
Sorokin’s story gained widespread attention through a New York Magazine article by Jessica Pressler in 2018, which was later adapted into the Netflix series “Inventing Anna,” produced by Shonda Rhimes and starring Julia Garner as Sorokin. Although Sorokin was paid $320,000 (£230,000) for her story, New York law prevented her from keeping all of it due to her criminal background. Reflecting on the situation, Sorokin told the BBC in 2021, “I never asked for Netflix to buy my story, it just happened. And everything else, it just spun out of my control.”
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