Who is Anna Sorokin, the con artist who will participate in the US dancing reality show?

Anna Sorokin, widely known for her infamous con as a fake German heiress, is once again dominating the headlines.

She is all set to compete in the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars.

The fraudster, who is being billed as “Anna Delvey,” per the show’s release, will be joining a diverse lineup of contestants on the 33rd season of the show, which will be premiering September 17.

Here’s all we know about her.

Who is Anna Sorokin?

Anna Sorokin was born on January 23, 1991, in Russia’s Domodedovo, according to People magazine.

Raised in a middle-class family, her father was a truck driver and her mother owned a small convenience store.

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She spent most of her childhood in Germany.

At 19, Sorokin left Germany to pursue a fashion degree in France’s Paris, where she eventually took on the name Anna Delvey.

Working with Purple magazine, she attended Fashion Week in New York in the summer 2013. That’s also when she decided to live in the vibrant city.

Ever since her conviction in 2019, Sorokin has not been in touch with her parents.

Her father has even disowned her and told Dailymail in April 2019, “I do not have any influence on her life and what she does. It is down to her what she has done."

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How did she scam people?

Sorokin impersonated a wealthy German heiress while she was in New York City to gain access to the most prominent socialites in the city’s inner circle, as per The Times of India.

She conned numerous people, hotels, and banks, frequently fabricating fake bank statements or invalid credit cards to give the impression of luxury.

To attract affluent donors and promote her brand, she even came up with the concept for the Anna Delvey Foundation, a private club and art foundation.

Sorokin was taken into custody in October 2017 as part of a sting operation. She ended up living at an addiction treatment centre in Los Angeles County, California, at the time. It was determined during her conviction that she had stolen approximately $275,000.

In 2019, Anna Sorokin was convicted of grand larceny and theft of services after she defrauded banks and upscale hotels out of over $200,000 (£145,000).

In 2018, writer Jessica Pressler’s profile in New York Magazine brought her narrative to a global audience.

The feature was subsequently adapted by Shonda Rhimes, the brains behind Grey’s Anatomy, Bridgerton and Scandal, in a Netflix series titled Inventing Anna, where Sorokin was portrayed by Julia Garner.

For the series, Netflix compensated Sorokin $320,000.

However, she was not allowed to keep the full amount because of a New York rule that forbids criminals from making money off of their notoriety, according to BBC.

Where is she now?

While she was released from prison in February 2021, US immigration authorities picked her up shortly after she got out, claiming she overstayed her visa and must be returned to her native Germany, according to The Associated Press.

She was in ICE custody for over a year before a judge cleared the way for her to switch to home confinement in October 2022 while she fights the deportation to Germany case.

While under house arrest, she had to abide by the immigration judge’s condition that she does not use social media, but Sorokin kept busy.

She started a podcast — The Anna Delvey Show— that featured guests like comedian Whitney Cummings and technology journalist Taylor Lorenz who travelled to her apartment in New York’s East Village to record.

Why is she participating in the show?

In a June 2023 interview, Sorokin expressed her desire to shift her notoriety into something more positive.

“So many people became famous for bad things and were able to kind of segue it into something different,” she said in a June 2023 interview with AP.

“Dancing With the Stars” is the first mainstream way Sorokin is attempting to accomplish that goal.

Because Sorokin has been on house arrest, a promotional image for her upcoming DWTS appearance features her in a glittering dress and her ankle monitor.

This signals that the show is embracing her controversial past.

Sorokin’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, confirmed Tuesday that she could travel within 112 kilometres of her home base and anywhere in the five boroughs of New York City under previous house arrest conditions, but could not comment on any changes to those rules.

Who are the other participants?

ABC’s long-running dance competition show, Dancing With the Stars will premiere on September 17.

Described as the “notorious ankle bracelet fashionista” in a press release, Sorokin was announced Wednesday on Good Morning America along with the likes of former NBA star Dwight Howard, actor Tori Spelling and Jenn Tran, The Bachelorette lead whose season ended in heartbreak just Tuesday night.

Other participants on the show are former Super Bowl champion Danny Amendola, The Bachelor’s Joey Graziadei, Chandler Kinney of Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, rugby player and Olympian Ilona Maher, model Brooks Nader, gymnast and Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik, Real Housewives of Atlanta star Phaedra Parks, brother of Julia Roberts, Eric Roberts, Family Matters’ Reginald VelJohnson.

The show will be hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough, with Sorokin partnered with professional dancer Ezra Sosa.

Artem Chigvintsev, who was arrested last week on a domestic violence charge, will not return as a pro.

With inputs from agencies