She’d be lying to everyone if she said she was sorry.
Con artist Anna Sorokin shared this sentiment during a 2019 interview with The New York Times. Enchanted by the high-class society of New York City, Sorokin inserted herself into this modern aristocracy by creating a different version of herself — one who wore luxury fashion, resided in expensive hotels, and mingled with the upper class. This persona, called Anna Delvey, would be essential in concealing Sorokin’s true nature: a fraudulent, deceitful scam artist. Sorokin’s web of lies was eventually pulled apart by prosecutors, and she was imprisoned in 2018 to serve a 4-year sentence. Remarkably, she was able to crawl back into relevancy as she signed up for season 33 of Dancing with the Stars.
Sorokin was born on January 23, 1991, in Russia. She later moved to Germany with her family, where she spent most of her formative years. At 19, she decided to set off for Paris, where she pursued a fashion degree and changed her last name to Delvey. She worked for a fashion and art magazine called Purple, where the seeds of her love for art were planted. Eventually, she visited New York for Fashion Week, where she started her career of deception.
Sorokin’s fake life was costly. She posed as a German heiress with a heavy trust fund that could fuel her extravagant lifestyle. She would treat her friends to expensive experiences and live in hotels that cost hundreds of dollars per night. She would “manage” these bills by walking out on debt and taking large loans that would never be paid back. At her trial, it was found that she had borrowed over 200,000 dollars from her lenders.
Ultimately, Sorokin’s plans were uncovered in 2017, when her first arrest was made after authorities discovered she had walked out on her hotel bills. Subsequently, Sorokin faced a series of arrests, which culminated in her being sentenced to jail in 2018 after being convicted of grand theft, larceny, and financial crimes.
After serving four years in prison, Sorokin was released in 2021. By then, she was known for being the inspiration for the hit Netflix series, Inventing Anna. She let this fame carry her to more endeavors in entertainment as she signed up for Dancing with the Stars.
Sorokin donned a striking ankle monitor in her promotional picture for Dancing with the Stars. This detail only added to people’s shock and controversy concerning Sorokin’s placement in the show. One confusing detail is how Sorokin is considered a “star” in the first place. However, if you are up to date with Dancing of the Stars, you would realize that many of the recent stars aren’t exactly the biggest celebrities in the world right now, and many of them certainly aren’t good people. It seems that the purpose of choosing Sorokin was solely to generate controversy and get people talking about the show, which seemingly worked, as users on social media created many videos discussing Sorokin’s involvement with the show. While many are upset with this choice, people will likely still tune in due to curiosity.
The show’s latest season premiered on September 17 and can be streamed every Tuesday on ABC or Disney +. Viewers can tune in to witness Sorokin undertake her latest endeavor, and hopefully, she leaves her deceitful methods in the past.
