Anna Delvey blasts Dancing with the Stars for making her ‘feel stupid’

After becoming one of the first celebrities to be eliminated during Dancing with the Stars season 33’s first elimination of the season, Anna Delvey is speaking out about her experience on the show… and let’s just say she’s not exactly a fan of how her time went on the show. 

During a double elimination in Week 2, Delvey was eliminated along with fellow season 33 contestant Tori Spelling which wasn’t at all surprising to the viewers at home. Delvey was one of the lowest-scoring contestants in the first two weeks of the competition but it wasn’t just her scores that led to her elimination. Delvey failed to garner support from the fans at home who weren’t exactly pleased with her casting on the show or the lack of interest she seemed to have in competing. 

Her casting was a clear example of stunt casting by the producers as they’ve been known to go after headline-making personalities, and Delvey is now speaking out about being “used” by the show to help drive up ratings.  

“I feel that the show so obviously used me to drive up the ratings, that they never had any plans to give me any chance to grow and only cared about exploiting me for attention,” Delvey told NBC News in an interview following her elimination. “It was predatory of them to try [to] make me feel inadequate and stupid, all while I did get progressively better, yet they chose to disregard that.”

In Delvey’s eyes, she was never given a fair chance by the judges or the viewers at home, calling the show’s judging “nonsensical.” 

“It felt like I was never really given a fair chance by the viewers or some of the judges’ given their nonsensical scoring,” Delvey added. “It’s supposed to be a dance competition and not a popularity contest.”

Ironically, it’s clear that Delvey has clearly never watched the show as she blasted it for being more of a popularity contest than a dance competition when in reality it’s truly a mix of both. While it is indeed a competition series in which the goal is to become the most talented dancer and score the highest possible judges’ scores, the show is very much a popularity contest as the viewers at home play a major role in determining the winner. 

Fans become invested in the celebrity’s stories, and the more you give of yourself the more the viewers at home will resonate with your story and want to vote for you each week. Sadly, Delvey simply wasn’t able to form that connection with the viewers at home which is what ultimately led to her elimination and her final remarks on the show definitely did not do her any favors. 

Following her elimination, cohost Julianne Hough asked Delvey what she would take away from the show to which she replied, “Nothing.” 

Needless to say, Delvey is going to down as one of the most controversial contestants to ever compete on Dancing with the Stars and she most certainly gave fans one of the most shocking goodbyes in the show’s history.