Ezra Sosa, Anna Delvey ABC/Jose Alvarado, Jr.;Dominik Bindl/Getty Images
Dancing With the Stars newbie Ezra Sosa is facing a few challenges in his first season as a pro, and getting partner Anna Delvey to smile might be the biggest one.
During a recent interview on the “Lightweights” podcast, Sosa, 23, opened up about working with Delvey, 33, whose season 33 casting raised eyebrows due to her criminal background. “It was hard for me at first to get her to get into it,” Sosa confessed. “Like, to get into four hour rehearsals. I don’t think that she knew what she got herself into, if I’m being fully transparent.”
While she may have been hesitant at first, Sosa is glad Delvey is “really putting in the work now” in the studio. Coaching her on “performance,” however, has proven somewhat difficult.
“It’s so hard,” Sosa teased. “I’m like, ‘Can you smile for me?’ She goes, ‘No.’ … She goes, ‘I’ll just do it the night of.’”
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Because of her reserved facial expressions, Sosa predicts Delvey will excel at performing “anything moody” in the DWTS ballroom. For the first two weeks of the season, the duo were given more upbeat styles of dance — but Sosa tried to influence the producers for week three.
“Nothing happy, please!” he joked. “Let’s give her something moody. ‘Cause she has a really good, like, resting bitch face. I was like, ‘We need to really start tapping into that,’ because getting her to smile takes a lot.”
When season 33 premiered on Tuesday, September 17, Delvey and Sosa were the last couple to perform. They closed out the night with a cha-cha to Sabrina Carpenter‘s “Espresso,” receiving a score of 18 out of 30 and landing in the middle of the leaderboard.
In the pair’s intro package, both Sosa and Delvey spoke candidly about the perception surrounding her appearance on the show. Delvey 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 was put under house arrest one year later after being taken into custody for overstaying her visa. (A famous New York magazine profile about her was adapted for Netflix’s 2022 series Inventing Anna.)
Following the pair’s performance — during which Delvey sported a bedazzled ankle monitor — judge Carrie Ann Inaba encouraged the audience to “give this a chance” after sensing a “shift in the energy” in the room. Speaking to Us Weekly after the show, both Delvey and Sosa confessed they didn’t pick up on the crowd’s reaction.
“I think I could have done a little bit better with my dance,” Delvey told Us. “I think I performed better during rehearsals, but it was a great experience. I’ve never performed in front of a live audience and, hopefully, I will get better moving forward.”
Throughout the rehearsal process, Sosa has noticed Delvey becoming more open to the challenge of learning ballroom dance — and becoming more vulnerable with him. Sosa was also well aware that Delvey’s time on DWTS would spark conversation.
“When you are partnered with someone, like, with her story, you have no other option but to lean into it,” he explained on the podcast. “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 gonna be watching anyway.”
Sosa is hopeful viewers will see a different side of Delvey, noting that her story “has been told through other people’s lenses” until now. Despite what some fans might think, he doesn’t feel like he got the short end of the stick with his first celeb partner.
“They’re putting the gay guy with Anna Delvey,” he said of the show’s casting choice. “And if you wanna appreciate Anna Delvey, you have to either be … gay or a woman.”
Dancing With the Stars airs simultaneously on ABC and Disney+ Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET. Episodes are available to stream on Hulu and Disney+ the next day.
