Eric Todisco
ICE, ICE, baby.
Anna Delvey — the fake heiress who went to jail for being a con artist — revealed that she needed permission from the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to compete on Season 33 of “Dancing With the Stars.”
“[DWTS] approached my team and I had to request ICE for permission to travel out of state because its being filmed in Los Angeles and I’m based in New York,” the 33-year-old said in an interview with PEOPLE after the new season’s cast was announced Wednesday.
“It took them about 10 days to get it through the system and to get everything approved,” she added.
“By the time I got the approval, it was very close to the starting day so I kind of flew to LA pretty much the next day and I just decided why not?”
Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, was arrested in 2017 for defrauding major financial institutions, banks, hotels and friends out of more than $250,000 to fund her luxurious lifestyle by pretending she was the daughter of a German oil tycoon.
In 2019, she was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison after being found guilty of charges including grand larceny and theft.
The disgraced socialite was set free in 2021 on good behavior — but then she was detained by immigration authorities for overstaying her visa.
She was released from ICE custody in 2022 and has remained under house arrest in New York City. She also wears an ankle monitor.
Delvey’s spokesperson, Juda Engelmayer, confirmed Tuesday that she could travel within 70 miles of her home base and anywhere in the five boroughs of New York City under previous house arrest conditions, according to the Associated Press.
In her interview with PEOPLE, Delvey addressed the backlash towards her casting on the ABC competition series.
“It’s just not that serious. If someone is that upset about casting on a dancing show, I don’t know what to tell them,” she said.
Delvey, who will compete with new pro Ezra Sosa, cannot take her ankle monitor off throughout the season. The device is even visible in her “DWTS” cast photo.
The famous fraudster exclusively told The Post that she truly doesn’t want the “spectacle” that comes with wearing the GPS tracker.
“Every time I go out, what’s being written is I’m sporting the ankle bracelet or I’m flaunting it,” she explained in August. “People don’t seem to want to acknowledge that I don’t have a choice but to wear it.”
Delvey added: “It’s just like I would not want to make such a spectacle out of this. I would love to be able to go out, and not be stared at or like not every delivery person asking me if I killed my husband, or something.”
“Dancing With the Stars” premieres on Sept. 17 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+.
This post was originally posted by NYPost
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