Anna Delvey, the scammer-turned-socialite who rose to infamy by conning New York’s elite, has spoken out about the toll incarceration took on her self-image, revealing she was “at [her] heaviest” after leaving prison, and calling her appearance at the time “embarrassing.”
The 34-year-old, born Anna Sorokin, gained notoriety after posing as a wealthy German heiress and defrauding banks, hotels, and socialites out of hundreds of thousands of dollars between 2013 and 2017.
Highlights
- Anna Delvey says she was at her “heaviest” after serving time, calling it “so embarrassing."
- Her prison diet consisted of Cheez-Its and Diet Coke due to poor vegetarian options.
- Now under house arrest, she walks four miles a day and has dropped 40 pounds.
Delvey claimed her weight gain behind bars was largely due to the lack of decent food options, revealing that her prison meals consisted mostly of vending machine snacks.
Anna Delvey, the infamous scammer behind Netflix’s Inventing Anna, revealed the reason for her weight gain in jail
Image credits: theannadelvey
Delvey was arrested in October 2017 after a sting operation orchestrated by the NYPD, using a former friend who claimed Anna had defrauded her out of $62,000.
She was convicted in 2019 of multiple felonies, including grand larceny in the first, second, and third degrees, and theft of services. Initially sentenced to four to twelve years in prison, she was released early in February 2021 for good behavior.
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It was during her 18-month stay behind bars that Delvey says her physical appearance took a serious hit: a result of the severely limited food options available to her as a vegetarian.
“I was eating, like, Cheez-Its and Diet Coke,” she said in an interview. “I don’t eat meat, but you probably don’t want to eat meat that they’re serving in jail anyway.”
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Cut off from fresh food, vegetables, and the curated lifestyle she had grown accustomed to during her scam-funded years in Manhattan’s luxury hotels, Delvey resorted to vending machines.
Delvey was then immediately detained by immigration authorities, but made bail in October 2022, posting a $10,000 bond.
Being set free only made her diet worse, as she found herself binging to make up for all the foods she missed while incarcerated.
“When I came out, I needed to eat everything that I was missing,” she said.
Anna has been allowed a 75-mile movement radius, enough for her to run and exercise
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Since her release, Delvey says she’s shed 40 pounds by walking four miles every single day around New York City. It’s a routine she’s maintained despite being under strict house arrest conditions stemming from her ongoing deportation battle with ICE.
Delvey nowadays remains confined to her residence and wears an ankle monitor at all times. But unlike many others in her situation, she’s been allowed a 75-mile movement radius, which gives her just enough room to strut through Manhattan.
Image credits: theannadelvey
Like many celebrities, she briefly flirted with Ozempic, admitting to its use but confessing that, in the end, the mental side effects were not worth it.
“It just made me very depressed,” she said. “It made me feel like it sucked the life out of me.”
The focus on her appearance has been part of a deliberate attempt at a public image overhaul, which included a slew of beauty treatments the cost of which has been covered thanks to income from her media appearances.
The con artist was part of last year’s Dancing with the Stars, an appearance that was criticized by both audiences and critics
Image credits: theannadelvey
Perhaps the most important of these appearances has been her participation on last year’s edition of Dancing with the Stars.
On her first night, the infamous con artist hit the ballroom floor with a bejeweled ankle monitor strapped to her leg. “A reminder of her criminal past,” as one viewer put it.
Delvey, introduced as an “artist, fashion icon, and infamous NYC socialite,” performed a cha-cha to Sabrina Carpenter’s Espresso. The number, which ended the night, was widely panned as “mediocre,” and Delvey herself didn’t seem too invested in the performance.
Image credits: theannadelvey
“I feel happy I don’t have to do this again,” she said afterward, before being reminded by judges that she might have to return for eliminations the following week.
Despite the cold reception, Delvey used her time on the show to remind audiences of what landed her in the spotlight in the first place.
“In 2017, I was accused of multiple counts of grand larceny,” she said in a pre-recorded package. “I did serve my time, and Dancing with the Stars is a way to show people a different side of me.”
For now, the disgraced “heiress” continues walking New York’s streets in designer sunglasses and court-approved footwear, being legally allowed to leave her residence, but never without the weight of her past in tow.
“I’m not doing anything against the rules,” she said.
“Entitled.” Netizens were taken aback that Delvey called her weight gain the most embarrassing part of prison
