Known for its glitz and glamour, Dancing with the Stars has been a staple of American television for nearly 20 years. But on Tuesday, during the show’s primetime season premiere, there will be a twist, when convicted fraudster Anna Delvey — real name Anna Sorokin — takes to the dance floor wearing a jeweled ankle bracelet.

In a press release, Disney-owned ABC called Sorokin “an artist, fashion icon and notorious NYC socialite,” as well as “a notorious ankle bracelet fashionista.” She will join a cast that includes an NBA veteran, several reality TV stars and two Olympians for the latest edition of the U.S. spinoff of the BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing format.

Critics accused the network of glorifying her past crimes, with the New York Post calling it a “new low for pop culture.”

Some have also questioned her right to live and work in the US as a German-Russian citizen.

Sorokin’s electronic ankle bracelet is not intended for her original 2019 convictions, which came after she travelled the world under the guise of a European heiress, defrauding banks, lawyers and a private jet company of more than $200,000 (£150,000).

The ankle bracelet is the result of a years-long immigration battle in the US, where she has fought against deportation.

There is heated debate online about this new chapter in shame.

Some seem to admire her endless ambition, as if she represents some kind of warped American dream. Others have dismissed her constant self-promotion and apparent lack of remorse as shameless.

During a heated exchange on the talk show The View, Whoopi Goldberg said that her ability to appear on Dancing with the Stars despite facing immigration charges is an example of a “two-tier immigration system” that favors the wealthy or those with connections.

Others say it is not surprising that her convictions are being ignored in a country where a criminal is running for president.

Sorokin first came to prominence when New York Magazine published an investigation into her crimes in 2018. Her scams were later explored in the Netflix series Inventing Anna and the BBC podcast Fake Heiress.

It was the audacity that intrigued people. She had worked her way into New York City’s elite in a ruse that lasted for years. Her goal was to secure a $22 million loan to build an arts foundation in her own name.

While living under the persona of an heiress, she falsified bank statements, ran up large bills at luxury hotels that she couldn’t pay, walked out of restaurants without paying, bounced checks, created fake emails from accountants, and had others pay her bills after extravagant spending sprees. Small businesses and individuals were also affected.

“She’s been a public figure for so long that I don’t think people remember the details of the crimes — if they even remember them,” said Jessica Pressler, who wrote the first piece about her in New York Magazine and became the inspiration for the fictional journalist character in Inventing Anna.

“People don’t look as far beyond the surface,” she added, acknowledging that this helped the original scam. “Dancing With the Stars… it’s a natural extension of the story.”

Sorokin was arrested in 2017 while on the run in California and was tried in New York. In 2019, she was convicted on eight theft-related charges and sentenced to four to 12 years in prison.

That was part one of her legal battle.

After serving nearly four years in prison, including a stint in the notorious Rikers Island jail, she was released in February 2021 and was expected to leave the US.

But she didn’t go.

Six weeks later – after a series of media appearances and signing a paid TV deal with a German company – immigration authorities arrested her because she had overstayed her visa.

More than three years later, she is still fighting her deportation. She has spent her time in prison and under house arrest. In 2022, she was supposed to board a plane in New York to return to Germany. But her lawyer intervened and she did not fly. A court case over her deportation was still pending, they said.

Her exact asylum claims are unclear, but it is believed that they relate to her Russian nationality. She lived there in her early years, but her family moved to Germany when she was a teenager. When she was in New York in her twenties, she was on a tourist visa.

While under house arrest, Sorokin started her own podcast and did interviews with various media outlets. (Vogue magazine filmed a tour of her East Village apartment; Vogue UK ran an article titled “What Does Anna Delvey Read?”)

“Most of us would be embarrassed to do something she does,” Pressler said, describing how Sorokin stayed in a hotel for months without paying her bill and flew to Morocco with no money. “From staying in a hotel for months and not paying her bill to getting on a plane to Morocco with no money, no one would do that. She does it with aplomb. I think all the admiration people have for her is limited to that.”

“They’re not going to do these kinds of things, they don’t like the things she’s done, but the average person wishes they could have that belief in themselves.”

John Sandweg, who served as acting head of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during Barack Obama’s presidency, is her current immigration attorney.

He told the BBC that lengthy deportation cases in the United States are not uncommon, but that this had been “quite lengthy”.

“Her criminal case has also been on appeal for a long time and that has had an impact,” he added.

He said her house arrest conditions were “really restrictive.” “We challenged them. She was banned from social media. We argued that was unconstitutional,” he said. She was not a flight risk or a danger to society, and she had complied with her parole conditions, he added.

As a result of the challenge, her bail conditions were relaxed in August. She is now back on social media and has been given permission to travel to Los Angeles for the filming of Dancing with the Stars. She also has a social security number.

ICE confirmed to the BBC that she had been cleared to travel. “Anna Sorokin’s conditions of release were modified by a Department of Justice immigration judge,” the spokesperson said.

Sorokin had to pay rent while under house arrest, but this also led to a dispute. Her landlord filed a lawsuit, alleging that she had not paid three months’ rent. Court documents show that he claimed Sorokin owed more than $12,000. The case was eventually resolved and she moved out.

Sorokin has employed many lawyers in recent years, with funding reportedly coming from media deals and the sale of her prison artwork.

Netflix controversially paid Sorokin $320,000 (£230,000) for her life story for the series Inventing Anna. After a state intervention, she was legally required to use some of the money to repay the victims of her theft. But some money was left over to pay her lawyer in the original trial.

Netflix is ​​embroiled in a defamation lawsuit sparked by the series.

The lawsuit was brought by Sorokin’s former girlfriend Rachel Williams, who also starred in the series.

Williams wrote a book, My Friend Anna, about their short-lived friendship and how it fell apart after she was left footing a $62,000 bill at a luxury resort in Morocco.

The lawsuit alleges that Netflix used her real name and biographical information in the series Inventing Anna, but that she was falsely portrayed as a “despicable and contemptible person.”

In an attempt to dismiss the lawsuit, Netflix said its interpretation of Williams is open to “literary license” and protected by the First Amendment, Variety magazine reported.

Sorokin is not involved in the case, although she has been summoned as a witness for the trial.

Williams’ lawyer Alexander Rufus-Isaacs told the BBC the case is expected to go to trial next year.

He said Sorokin’s work on Dancing with the Stars “glorified and minimized the crimes she committed, and minimized the impact on the people she hurt.”

In court, Sorokin was acquitted of the charges related to the Morocco trip. American Express eventually reimbursed Williams, but after she had endured a prolonged period of stress and anxiety, her book said.

While some saw Sorokin as an anti-establishment hero for infiltrating and shaming wealthy institutions, Williams did not see it that way. She previously told the BBC: “The system that Anna was trying to undermine… she didn’t do it out of some altruistic nobility, she wanted to be part of it.”

In response to the recent backlash, Dancing with the Stars boss Conrad Green told Variety, “Yes, (Sorokin) had the problems that she had, but we’ve had other people on the show who have had criminal problems in the past. She’s served her time. I think it’s absolutely right that she’s on the show.”