“Dancing with the Stars” is back again for Season 33. The season premiere is Tuesday, Sept. 17, and the new cast for this next season is quite an interesting lineup. 

You have your run-of-the-mill actors and actresses like “Beverly Hills, 90210” star Tori Spelling, who I am personally excited for. Then, you have your reality stars like Joey Graziadei from “The Bachelor.” Finally, there are your athletes, like Olympic gold medalist Stephen Nedoroscik, who I think could be considered a reality star because the 2024 Paris Olympics felt more like a reality show than a decades-old competition, but do not even get me started on that…

Regardless, this new season is cast with a perfect range of celebrities with diverse claims to fame. Well, it is almost perfect. In this new season, there is one “celebrity” that is creating a lot of buzz for the show, and that is Anna Sorokin, otherwise known by her moniker “Anna Delvey.”

According to ABC News, Sorokinis known as the “fake heiress” who committed numerous financial crimes and whose gilded lifestyle inspired the Emmy-nominated Netflix show “Inventing Anna.” 

Sorokin was convicted on eight counts. She scammed countless people, hotels and banks and made her way using invalid credit cards or fake bank statements to create the illusion of wealth. She even scammed people by creating a private club and art foundation called the Anna Delvey Foundation to entice wealthy donors and further her brand. She was sentenced to 12 years in prison but was released on good behavior in 2021. Sorokin has told the media that she was given special permission from the  U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave house arrest to be on the show. Now, both she and the show are receiving a lot of backlash for her casting. 

“Looking at the ethics of the whole thing, I do not think letting someone who just got out of jail to dance on a show is a great idea,” said Jack Ulrich, a junior management major. “Also, wasn’t Carol Baskin on it one year? Whatever racks in the most views, I suppose.” 

I really enjoy “Dancing with the Stars.” I love seeing celebrities I know compete against each other, wear glamorous outfits and dance complicated numbers. It is so fun. However, if it is cool to let a convicted felon compete on a show that is meant to be wholesome and fun entertainment, then what are the standards for casting someone for the show and what makes someone a true celebrity? Just because Sorokin is well-known, can she be considered a celebrity? I know she already has a whole show about her life, but is that even actually a good thing? 

“I love Dancing with the Stars,” said Lexie Anderson. “I love seeing my favorite celebrities dance and have fun outside of their normal context, but I am confused by Anna Delvey. I just don’t know how they allowed a convicted felon on the show. They always talk about the celebrities and their backstories, and I am just interested to see what they’re going to tell her story.”

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, the interviewer asked Sorokin if she was going to be bejeweling her ankle monitor for the show, and she said yes and that her dance partner, Ezra Sosa, was going to do it for her.

Guess what? She really meant it. Sosa got to work. She now has a rhinestone ankle monitor ready to match each of her dazzling dance costumes. Who does she think she is? Lindsey Lohan? No one could pull that look off again. It was just too iconic. It is like they are trying to do something with Sorokin and appeal to the younger viewers, but I just do not think we are reacting the way the showrunners anticipated. 

Or maybe we are? Maybe the producers expected negative attention, but attention is still earning them views, and, by extent, money. Maybe they knew from the beginning that Sorokin’s inclusion was going to be met with mixed reviews but chose to include her anyway to get the attention of people who do not usually tune in each season? Even if this was the motive, it stills leaves me questioning.

Is it even ethical to have Sorokin on the show? I am not entirely sure about that, but I do know that the show is about dancing with the “Stars.” I do not think that Delvey is a star. I am interested to see how they will tell her story, and if there will be a turnaround in the viewers’ opinions of her inclusion in the show. For the show’s sake, I hope so because it is one that I have enjoyed since I was a kid. At the very least, I am positive that this season will be one that is very entertaining and definitely one that fans will not quickly forget.