Anna Delvey And Dancing with the stars partner Ezra Sosa had a special bond before they even set foot in the ballroom.

Delvey, 33, has only seen season 30 of the reality dance competition, which happened to be the version that Sosa’s best friend JoJo Siwa competed with pro Jenna Johnson(After Siwa, 21, and Johnson, 30, finished second, Dancing mothers (star hired 23-year-old Sosa for a series of dance lessons.)

“I mean, I didn’t tell (JoJo) I was going pro this year. And when I told her, she didn’t believe me, such a good friend, wow,” Sosa joked exclusively to We weekly on Wednesday, September 4. “But since then she’s been texting me (about) everything. For example, her mom has a rhinestone business (and) gives me so many rhinestones so I can monitor (Anna’s ankle). She’s really part of the team.”

He continued: “(It) is actually super ironic because the only time (Anna) saw this, Dancing with the stars was in prison.”

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Delvey (born Anna Sorokin) was convicted in May 2019 of one count of attempted aggravated robbery, three counts of aggravated robbery, and four counts of theft and was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison. Delvey was paroled in February 2021 and served the remainder of her sentence on home confinement in New York City.

DWTS movies are in season in Los Angeles and Delvey was given permission to move to the City of Angels, as long as she wears an ankle bracelet. Although Delvey doesn’t know when she’ll be able to take the bracelet off, she said Us what it was like to hear it during rehearsals.

“I mean, it’s fine. It’s like dancing without it, I guess,” Delvey said. “It’s quite light. It’s not that bad.”

Sosa, meanwhile, joked that Delvey’s left leg would get “super polished” if they performed the jive with his quick kicks and moves.

“Good!” Delvey replied. “Because I wear it on my right cuff (since) my right cuff is narrower than the left.”

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Delvey and Sosa got along ‘really well’ during their first rehearsals.

“My first impression of Anna was that she was super sweet,” Sosa enthused. “Honestly, she walked past me, I said hi and she didn’t respond. And then she came back and I said hi again. And then I was like, ‘Okay, yeah, we’re in.’ But she’s super sweet. She has a really dry sense of humor, which is my personal favorite.”

Sosa is also very excited to help Delvey “show America who she really is” beyond the headlines and Netflix Inventing Anna. (Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland production company produced a miniseries starring Julia Garnerabout Delvey.)

“When I found out she was my partner, here’s what I did: I almost fell off the treadmill,” Sosa joked, noting that he had no intention of watching. Inventing Anna“When the casting director told me, I was so excited, so genuine.”

Dancing with the stars Season 33 premieres Tuesday, September 17 at 8:00 p.m. ET on ABC and simultaneously on Disney+. Episodes will also be available the following day on Hulu.

With reporting by Christina Garibaldi