The convicted felon Anna Delvey controversially made her debut on Dancing With The Stars on Tuesday night. It wasn’t exactly welcome, according to at least one judge. Carrie Ann Inaba said that she felt a “shift in the energy” among the crowd as Delvey performed.
Now, Delvey and her partner Ezra Sosa are firing back.
Inaba Critiques Delvey
Delvey, 33, and Sosa, 23, took to the dance floor to perform a cha-cha to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso.” She completed the dance while wearing a bedazzled ankle monitor, as she is still under house arrest.
Delvey ended up scoring 18 points. During the judging portion, Inaba expressed her opinion that there had been a seemingly negative “shift in the energy” of the audience while Delvey performed.
“I would just like to say, let’s all give this a chance because I can imagine that this was scary for you,” Inaba said. “And I’m not pro or for anything that you’ve done, but this is about your dancing here. Let’s all give her that space, please.”
Watch:
Delvey Fires Back
Delvey, however, does not agree. Indeed, she didn’t notice anything shift in the audience as she performed.
“It’s hard to say because we just moved fresh off the stage,” Delvey told US Weekly afterwards. “I’m not sure what the public’s reaction was yet, so it’s hard to say.”
Sosa was quick to agree with her.
“When we go out there and we’re dancing, it’s just us two on the floor, and we honestly don’t,” he explained. “Even when we finished the dance, we’re not really thinking about applause or anything.”
Check out their performance below.
Overall, Delvey thought her first Dancing With The Stars performance was a “great experience.”
“I [am] glad the night is over,” she admitted. “I think I could have done a little bit better with my dance…I think I performed better during rehearsals, but it was a great experience. I’ve never performed in front of a live audience and, hopefully, I will get better moving forward.”
Delvey is also having a blast with Sosa as her partner.
“I think Ezra has an appreciation for my sense of humor,” Delvey gushed. “Not everybody would, so that was a big plus because I wouldn’t want to censor myself in front of my dancing partner.”
Related: ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Felon Anna Delvey Seemingly Snubs Her Own Partner In Premiere
Delvey’s History
Delvey rose to infamy by posing as a wealthy German heiress in New York City. She used her position to defraud banks, hotels, and rich people. After being arrested in 2017, Delvey was convicted of grand larceny in the first, second, and third degree as well as theft of services in 2019.
Delvey was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison, but was released in February of 2021 for good behavior. Unfortunately for her, however, she was quickly taken into custody by ICE for violating the terms of her visa. In the years since then, Delvey has been under house arrest in New York City while she wages a legal battle against her deportation.
After being cast on Dancing With The Stars, Delvey told People Magazine that she had been given special permission from ICE to compete. This enraged many who felt that Delvey was being given special treatment, and that she has no business competing on the show.
Whoopi Goldberg explains that viewpoint in the video below.
Whether you like Delvey or not, it’s clear that she’s getting a lot of people talking about Dancing With The Stars. Tune in next Tuesday to see if she is able to dodge being the first contestant eliminated from the show!
More About:TV Show News
Read This Next
