Maks Chmerkovskiy Criticizes Convicted Felon Anna Delvey's Casting on 'DWTS': 'Professional Liar'

Maks Chmerkovskiy, who is not appearing on Season 33 of Dancing With the Stars, slammed the TV show for casting convicted felon Anna Delvey.

“So those are the kind of qualities you put together. And then there’s like, ‘OK, so who’s going to draw attention?’ And now you’re talking about someone like an Anna character, right?” Chmerkovskiy began on the "TMZ Podcast" on Monday, September 23, referring to the type of people the show brings on. “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. But if you want an ankle [bracelet] and sort of this, ‘D---, this is going to draw attention,’ and the scandalousness of it all – I mean, there’s so many other people you can choose from.”

The dancer, 44, then made it clear he's "absolutely not" a fan of Delvey, a con artist and fraudster who posed as a wealthy heiress to gain access to elite events in New York from 2013 to 2017.

"It doesn’t matter [who I would choose as a replacement]. To me, [Delvey’s] job was a professional liar. You’re gonna bring that person [on stage] and say, ‘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.’ Will I believe anything this lady says? Absolutely not," he fumed.

The dad-of-three was not impressed with Delvey, who wore a bedazzled ankle monitor during the premiere on September 17.

“You can blame the nerves and say, ‘Hey, everybody’s human and this person is not used to that stage.’ Bulls—,” he said. “Hold on a second — didn’t she con people into believing she was, like, fully fashion this and special like that? And that takes a lot of guts. 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. She’s a s----- dancer, and [her] personality is not really going to help her in this competition.”

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Delvey, who is partnered with Ezra Sosa, was arrested in 2017 and indicted on multiple counts of grand larceny and misdemeanor theft. She was released from prison on parole in 2021 and put under house arrest one year later while fighting deportation to Germany due to an alleged visa overstay.

Other people have weighed in on Delvey joining the show, including JoJo Siwa.

"My best friend in the whole entire world, Ezra [Sosa], it's his first season as a pro, and he's partnered with Anna Delvey, so I've got to vote for them," the DWTS Season 30 alum shared.