With Pommel Horse Guy and a fake heiress, “Dancing with the Stars” starts the new season

By JEFF TURNER, The Associated Press

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Convicted con artist Anna Sorokin has taken over the dance floor on “Dancing With the Stars” wearing a lightweight — and very glittery — ankle bracelet.

The so-called “fake heiress,” who was convicted in 2019 of defrauding banks, hotels and friends after falsely building the reputation of a wealthy German heiress named Anna Delvey, showed off the ballroom-ready ankle bracelet on Tuesday night at the premiere of the new season of “Dancing With the Stars.”

“It's actually not a big problem at all. It's pretty light and I asked them to make it tight so it doesn't dangle. So it's not that bad,” she told the Associated Press after the premiere. She and dance pro Ezra Sosa performed a routine to Sabrina Carpenter's “Espresso.”

“Let's face it: It's the real star of the show,” Sosa said of Sorokin's rhinestone-studded ankle bracelet.

Season 33 of Dancing With the Stars airs on ABC and Disney+ and features 13 couples – celebrities who meet professional dancers.

Among them is Olympic gymnast and Penn State graduate Stephen Nedoroscik, also known as the “Pommel Horse Guy,” who works with professional dancer Rylee Arnold.

They sang a jive to “Don't Stop Me Now” by Queen.

Although fans were able to vote last night, no one was eliminated from the dance competition. Eliminations will begin next week when the votes from fans and judges will be added together.

• LIVE STREAM: Fans can watch ABC without cable on fuboTV (free trial) and DirecTV Stream (free trial).

Sorokin admitted that her debut did not go as planned.

“I'm relieved it's over,” she said. “I think my dancing could have been a little better, but I'm glad I did it and it was a great experience overall.”

Alfonso Ribeiro and Julianne Hough are again co-hosts. Judges are Carrie Ann Inaba, Bruno Tonioli and Derek Hough. Other participants are:

• Danny Amendola, Super Bowl champion and professional Witney Carson.
• Joey Graziadei, “The Bachelor,” and professional Jenna Johnson.
• Dwight Howard, NBA champion and professional Daniella Karagach.
• Chandler Kinney, actress and professional Brandon Armstrong
• Ilona Maher, Olympic rugby player and professional Alan Bersten.
• Brooks Nader, model and cover girl and professional Gleb Savchenko.
• Phaedra Parks, reality TV star and lawyer, and professional Val Chmerkovskiy.
• Eric Roberts, actor and professional Britt Stewart.
• Tori Spelling, actress and professional Pasha Pashkov.
• Jenn Tran, “The Bachelorette,” and pro Sasha Farber.
• Reginald VelJohnson, actor and professional Emma Slater.

PennLive's Deb Kiner contributed to this story.