Dancing with the Stars dancer Ezra Sosa says Anna Delvey was ‘crying in the bathroom’ after backlash
Anna Delvey is a contestant on Dancing with the Stars (DWTS). (@theannadelvey/Instagram/BBC Studios Los Angeles)
Dancing with the Stars (DWTS) professional dancer Ezra Sosa has opened up about his celebrity partner Anna Delvey, admitting that she was “crying in the bathroom” after receiving backlash for appearing on the show.
Sosa, who has been featured on the show for the first time this year as a pro dancer, has been paired with the convicted con artist, whose real name is Anna Sorokin. Of course, Netflix viewers might be familiar with the true-crime miniseries Inventing Anna featuring Julia Garner, based on Delvey’s fraudulent crimes.
Delvey has received backlash after appearing as a contestant on DWTS, but her partner has spoken out against trolls via a TikTok video. The out gay dancer said: “I just want to come on here and just talk about my first official show as a professional dancer on Dancing with the Stars. What is life? I cannot believe this is happening to me right now.”
Sosa said it was “the best day ever” as he received “so much love from literally every single person, including my partner”. However, this was a far cry from Delvey’s experience.
“On my end, I was feeling so much positivity,” he explained as he became visibly emotional. “On my partner’s end, she wasn’t receiving the same. I think the hardest part of my day after [the] press line, she was reading the comments and we couldn’t find her.
“They finally found her in the bathroom. She was crying. I’ve never seen her like that, and it broke my heart,” he said.
Sosa continued: “As her partner, I wanted to give her the best experience she possibly could, and knowing that that’s not the case, it really did break my heart.” Sosa added that while he felt for his dance partner, he was unable to defend her previous crimes.
What was Anna Delvey’s crime?
On 25 April 2019, a jury in Manhattan found the fake heiress Anna Delvey guilty of eight charges, including second-degree grand larceny, attempted grand larceny and theft of services.
The following month, she was sentenced to between four and 12 years in state prison, fined $24,000 (approximately £18,700 at the time) and ordered to pay restitution of approximately £199,000 (£155,500).
She was originally released on parole from the infamous Rikers Island in the Bronx in February 2021 but was detained again for overstaying her visa.
She was released on bail in October 2022 and continues to be under house arrest. She is still wearing an ankle monitor while appearing on Dancing With the Stars, after receiving permission from the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
“What’s the worst that can happen? They’re not going to arrest me for dancing,” she told Entertainment Tonight.
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