Maksim Chmerkovskiy slams Anna Delvey’s ‘Dancing with the Stars’ casting

Maksim, a So You Think You can Dance judge and former Dancing with the Stars guest judge and pro partner, weighed in on Anna’s post-prison Dancing with the Starsstint during a Monday, September 23 appearance on the “TMZ Podcast.”

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While sizing up the celebrities who compete on Dancing with the Stars each season, Maksim, 44, said the cast typically fills specific archetypes such as the talented and popular young dancer, the older iconic figure, and the really athletic person with no dance experience.

And when asked where Anna fits in, Maksim said she was probably cast on the ABC reality dancing competition to “draw attention” from the media.

“So my struggle here… I can see both sides. I can also be on the production side and I can be on the viewer side and understand it all,” Maksim explained.

“But if you want an ankle [bracelet] and sortof this, ‘Damn, this is going to draw attention,’ and the scandalousness of it all — I mean, man, there’s so many other people you can choose from.”

Maksim confessed he’s “absolutely not” a fan of Anna on Dancing with the Stars — and he’ll probably never be.

Maksim suggested that any celebrity would’ve been a good replacement for Anna, whose “job” was “a professional liar.”

“You’re going to bring that person [on the show] and say, ‘Hey, here’s a platform that a lot of people waited their entire actual career to be a part of,’ to also get a moment of a personal story [where they] can say, ‘This is who I actually am,'” Maksim complained of the famous con artist.

“will I believe anything this lady says? Absolutely not.”

Maksim went on to critique Anna’s first cha cha performance with pro partner Ezra Sosa, 23.

For Anna’s first time in theDancing with the Stars ballroom, she bedazzled her ankle monitor to essentially make it a fashion statement.

Anna, who had chosen “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter as her anthem, and Ezra ended up in a three-way tie for eighth place on the judges’ leaderboard after receiving a total of 18 out 30 possible points from Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli.

“She wasn’t great. She was very kind of standoffish in a lot of things,” Maksim explained.

“You can blame the nerves and say, ‘Hey, everybody’s human and this person is not used to that stage.’ Bullsh-t. Hold on a second — didn’t she con people into believing she was, like, fully fashion this and special like that?”

Maksim said fooling the world “takes a lot of guts” and so he’s not buying the idea that Dancing with the Stars is bringing her out of her comfort zone.

“It takes a lot of self-control to present yourself a certain way, even if you’re so nervous. I don’t buy this ‘she was nervous’ stuff,” Maksim said.

“She’s just a sh-tty dancer, and her personality is not really going to help her in this competition.”

Maksim continued to vent, “As a matter of fact, I didn’t get to see why she even got on the show. So why isn’t that coming through in droves to offset the fact there’s all this stuff going on?”

When asked to share how many weeks he believes Anna will remain in the Dancing with the Stars competition, Maksim responded, “I don’t care.”

The pro dancer and dad admitted, “She’s not somebody I’d tune in to watch. I feel for [Ezra] , he’s got an uphill climb — just even the dancing part of it… I’m not saying anything that no one else is saying also.”

On Dancing with the Stars‘ Season 33 premiere, Carrie Ann asked viewers to give Anna a chance because she could tell the studio audience wasn’t very supportive or receptive of her.

But Maksim pointed out how Anna is going to have to face the consequences of her actions.

“You’re going to have to do a lot more to win somebody like me over after everything that you were accused of,” Maksim stated.

“But now you get to [serve] your time by bedazzling your ankle brace and being on national TV? I’m not about that.”

Anna was arrested in 2017 and indicted on multiple counts of grand larceny and misdemeanor theft.

Anna was released from prison on parole in 2021. Her story about fraudulently posing as a wealthy German heiress was developed into the 2022 miniseries Inventing Anna on Netflix.

Meanwhile, Ezra said on the “Lightweights” podcast that he’s doing his best with the circumstances of his Anna partnership.

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“When you are partnered with someone, like, with her story, you have no other option but to lean into it,” Ezra explained, according to Us Weekly .

“Like, that’s the only way you can really win people over is taking what she is and her story and just really going for it. Even though some people might not like it, no matter what, you’re going to be watching anyway.”

About The Author:
Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade.