Anna Delvey believes her brief stint on Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) didn’t reflect her true potential, expressing frustration over the unrealistic expectations set by producers. The 33-year-old convicted con artist discussed her elimination during a September 28 episode of Tori Spelling’s podcast, misSPELLING, where she humorously noted that both women were among the first contestants eliminated this season.
“We are like the biggest losers Dancing with the Stars has ever seen,” Delvey remarked, reflecting on their double elimination from the competition on September 24. She shared her surprise at being sent home so early, saying, “I honestly did not expect to go home the first show.”
Delvey, whose life story inspired Netflix’s Inventing Anna, acknowledged the challenges of connecting with the show’s audience, which skews older. “I was concerned about how it would affect my image,” she admitted, referring to her criminal past. “Most of the viewers who would be interested in me are younger.”
Despite her past of posing as a wealthy heiress and defrauding banks and hotels, Delvey stepped onto the DWTS stage in a bedazzled ankle monitor, a striking symbol of her journey. When host Julianne Hough asked what she gained from the experience, Delvey candidly replied, “Nothing.”
During her conversation with Spelling, Delvey criticized the producers for holding her to an unfair standard and for their expectations that she display more emotion during performances. “They were building me up,” she explained. “It felt like they put so much effort into making me feel comfortable just to eliminate me this early.”
She also expressed her belief that she and Spelling outperformed fellow competitors Eric Roberts and Reginald VelJohnson. “I see it as an attempt to embarrass us by getting eliminated before them in a dancing competition,” Delvey said, asserting that popularity shouldn’t overshadow talent. “He’s a great person, but he’s not a good dancer,” she added about VelJohnson. “I thought I signed up for a dancing competition, not a popularity contest.”
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