Julianne Hough, one of the hosts of Dancing with the Stars, has shared her thoughts on Anna Delvey joining the cast.
Many fans of the show are mad that the long-running ballroom competition is featuring a convicted criminal on the dance floor. Delvey was convicted of grand larceny on multiple counts in 2019, after years of pretending to be a socialite and using that ruse to scam $275,000, People reported. The grifter was released in 2021 after serving four years, though she has been under house arrest.
Delvey's spokesperson Juda Engelmayer revealed that the fake heiress could travel within 70 miles of her home as well as in all five boroughs of New York City, according to The Associated Press. This would allow her to compete on DWTS. She will be wearing an ankle monitor throughout the competition.
Hough, who originally joined the ABC show as a professional dancer, discussed the controversy surrounding the convicted con artist during an appearance on the Call It What It Is podcast. The show is hosted by Camilla Luddington, who plays Dr. Josephine "Jo" Wilson in Grey's Anatomy, alongside her friend and former Grey's Anatomy star Jessica Capshaw.
Newsweek emailed Delvey via Engelmayer for comment on Monday.
Luddington acknowledged the fact that some people are angry about Delvey being a part of the cast, calling it "controversial" but said that ultimately, she loved it.
"It's controversial for sure," Hough agreed. "I am obsessed."
The professional dancer continued: "It's pretty, I mean, talk about controversy. But, again, in a way that, like, allows people to show their most, true self. So this is a great opportunity for her.
"But I just love it so much because I was obsessed with the show [Inventing Anna] and Julia Garner just crushed it. There's so much fun to be had with it and she plays into it."
Inventing Anna was a Netflix drama starring Emmy winner Julia Garner as the real-life fraudster. The series is based on the New York Magazine article "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People" by journalist Jessica Pressler.
When Hough was asked if Delvey and producers were going to bedazzle the ankle monitor, she said it had already been done.
"I saw it on Instagram yesterday," she explained.
Delvey has previously revealed that she hates wearing the ankle monitor, as it draws unwanted attention to her.
"Every time I go out, what's being written is I'm sporting the ankle bracelet or I'm flaunting it," she told the New York Post in August. "People don't seem to want to acknowledge that I don't have a choice but to wear it."
Delvey joins the ranks of stars like Olympic pommel horse hero Stephen Nedoroscik, actor Tori Spelling, Bachelor Nation's Joey Graziadei and Jenn Tran and many more on this season of the hit dance show.
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