Actress Tori Spelling is the latest Dancing With The Stars celebrity to share their thoughts on competitor Anna Delvey.
Spelling, best known for her role on Beverly Hills, 90210, is competing on the 33rd season of the ABC dancing reality TV series which just aired its second episode on Tuesday. Both Delvey and Spelling were eliminated from the competition this week.
One of the hot talking points of this year’s show has been contestant Delvey who is also known as the “Fake Heiress,” thanks to her criminal exploits of defrauding rich socialites. Her crime spree was immortalized in the Netflix drama, Inventing Anna.
Delvey’s casting sparked controversy because of her criminal record, but this week she drew criticism for comments she made on the show. She replied “nothing” when asked what she learned from being on the show.
Spelling reacted to Delvey’s comments on the Wednesday edition of her podcast, MisSpelling, by talking about what she thought of her experience on the show.
“That’s her sense of humor,” Spelling said of Delvey’s answer. “That’s very on brand for her. I feel like people were offended and that it had nothing to do with Dancing With The Stars.
“It’s just that she has a very dry sense of humor.”
Anna Delvey (L) and Tori Spelling in promotional photos for ABC’s ‘Dancing With the Star’. Spelling spoke out about Delvey’s comments on what she learned from the show.
Disney/Andrew Eccles
Spelling’s comments come after DWTS judge Carrie Ann Inaba said she was taken “aback” by Delvey’s response.
“That was dismissive not only of the opportunity she was given, of her wonderful and supportive partner Ezra (Sosa) in his debut season, but also of all of us who work on the show-from the dancers to behind the scenes to the creative team,” she told EW.
“We all put in the effort to give her a fair opportunity. But I don’t think she could see that and it’s a shame. A little gratitude could have changed the narrative.”
Delvey, a Russian-born German citizen, was convicted on multiple counts of grand larceny and theft of services in 2019 and was eventually released in 2021. But she was then detained by ICE and held for more than a year before being released to home confinement. She is now wearing an ankle monitor as she fights deportation from the U.S.
Her professional dance partner, Sosa, spoke about how he found Delvey crying in the bathroom after their DWTS debut.
“During that whole day, it was just truly the best day ever,” Sosa said of their DWTS premiere in a video posted to his Instagram. “In the sense, I felt so much love from literally every single person. Including my partner. On my end, I was feeling so much positivity. On my partner’s end, she wasn’t receiving the same.
“I think the hardest part of my day was after press line she was reading the comments and we couldn’t find her. They finally found her in the bathroom. She was crying.”
“I’ve never seen her like that and it broke my heart,” he added, wiping away a tear. “As her partner, I wanted to give her the best experience she possibly could. And knowing that that’s not the case, it really did break my heart.”
