In a bizarre programming move, ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” has cast fake heiress Anna Delvey, known for her grand theft and fraud, as one of this season’s contestants. Delvey will compete against Olympic gold medalist Stephen Nedoroscik (who you can’t tell isn’t actually Clark Kent/Superman), the newest “Bachelorette” Jenn Tran, NBA star Dwight Howard and more. Delvey has the dubious honor of being the only contestant this season who had to get federal approval before traveling to Los Angeles to film the show. Her current bail conditions restrict her to traveling within a 70-mile radius of her home.

Delvey, whose real name is Anna Sorokin, was convicted by a jury in 2019 on eight counts of theft: one count of attempted grand larceny, three counts of grand larceny, and four counts of services of theft. She was acquitted on two counts, including attempted theft of more than $1 million from a bank.

Dubbed the “fake heiress,” she was accused by prosecutors of defrauding friends, strangers and businesses by pretending to inherit a German mega-fortune. Her years-long crime spree of stealing, forging and essentially scamming was turned into a hit Netflix series, “Inventing Anna,” created by Shonda Rhimes and starring Julia Garner. In short, Delvey has achieved the kind of viral notoriety reserved for badly behaved celebrities.

Following her conviction, Delvey was sentenced to four to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay a $24,000 fine and approximately $200,000 in restitution. She ultimately served just under four years in Rikers Island Prison. Following her early release for good behavior in February 2021, she was scheduled to immediately return to Germany, but instead stayed. More specifically, Immigration and Customs Enforcement alleges that she stayed too long her visa in the United States. Delvey was subsequently arrested by immigration authorities in March 2021 and held for 17 months before being released to house arrest with an electronic monitoring bracelet to track her comings and goings. Delvey is still fighting her deportation, seeking asylum and insisting that she must remain in the U.S. so she can appeal her criminal conviction.

While her lengthy deportation proceedings continue and she remains out of custody, Delvey has been able to earn an income and pursue her celebrity status. She started a podcast while under house arrest and has done several interviews. She’s sold her prison artwork. She posts on social media and has landed media deals; Vogue even filmed a tour of her apartment. But it’s not like Delvey has escaped legal trouble in the meantime. She was accused of failing to pay her rent and was sued by her landlord, who claimed in legal documents that she owed more than $12,000. She eventually moved out. And that Netflix deal? Delvey sold the rights to her story for $320,000, but in New York State, criminals can’t profit from their crimes, so she had to pay back her victims first.

In an era when Americans expect sincere and heartfelt mea culpas from fellow criminal defendants who have committed the crime, served their time, and now express deep regret for their wrongdoings, Delvey’s lack of remorse is deeply insulting. While countless others don’t have the luxury of freedom and remain locked up awaiting their own deportation hearings, the “fake heiress” remains free, sporting a bejeweled electronic ankle bracelet that Women’s Wear Daily wrote an entire article about. People, understandably, aren’t rooting for her.

On the season premiere of “DWTS,” the studio audience was apparently hushed after her dancing debut. The three judges each gave her a 6 out of 10 for her performance. The phrase “Anna Delvey’s Lackluster DWTS Debut” trended on X. She’s no one’s favorite to win.

People are wondering if the scam continues while Delvey makes money. She insisted on rejecting a plea deal and her defense during the trial was that she had done nothing wrong. Her lawyer argued to the jury that she “gamed a system … and told little lies along the way.” He then justified Delvey’s behavior by saying: “Everyone lies when it suits them … and Anna did the same. She couldn’t be 100% honest because no one would listen to her.”

A day after she was convicted by a jury of her peers, Delvey told The New York Times, “The point is, I don’t regret it. I’d be lying to you and everybody and myself if I said I regret anything. I regret the way I handled certain things.” When asked if she would do the same thing again, she replied with a laugh, “Yeah, probably.”

It’s not really that shocking that “DWTS” saw the entertainment value in casting Delvey. I mean, this is a show that featured former Trump press secretary Sean Spicer dancing around in a wrinkled neon yellow and green T-shirt and banging bongo drums. Spicer routinely lied on behalf of Donald Trump and, to this day, defends his tenure in that administration.

When it comes down to it, Delvey’s inclusion isn’t all that surprising when you consider that we have a man convicted of 34 felonies running for the highest office in the land — a man who also refuses to admit his mistakes and show remorse or regret for the harm he’s caused. Delvey wrote to Trump in 2021 to offer advice on how to navigate life in prison and thrive as a “model prisoner.” In her letter, she told Trump, “I didn’t just survive, I thrived, and if I can do it, you probably can too.”

After her debut, Delvey told “DWTS” co-host Julianne Hough that she’s reinvented herself many times, and this time, she’s a ballroom dancer. But Delvey has to remember that reinvention isn’t a matter of remorse or regret, and she seems to be sorely lacking in both.