Netflix is uncovering the tangled web of Belle Gibson’s lies with its new series, Apple Cider Vinegar.
According to the official logline, the show tells a “true-ish story based on a lie, about the rise and fall of a wellness empire; the culture that built it up and the people who tore it down.”
In the 2010s, Gibson rose to fame on social media as a wellness influencer who claimed to treat her terminal brain cancer through means of healthy eating and natural remedies.
She gained a huge following online for her social media posts and wellness app The Whole Pantry, but her lies eventually caught up with her as a local Australian newspaper began to poke holes in her cancer story.
Though the Netflix series modifies a few details about the real story, including changing the names of some of the people involved in the scandal, many of the storylines are based in truth.
Yes, Gibson lied about having cancer and about her real age. While some details have also been changed about her close friend Chanelle, she did play a pivotal role in uncovering her lies.
Read ahead as we break down some of the biggest fact vs. fiction storylines from the series.
Did Belle Gibson really have cancer? No
Among Gibson’s many lies, her biggest was that she had terminal brain cancer. The influencer centered her entire brand on the fake diagnosis, claiming that she had been healed through a holistic lifestyle and clean diet.
In 2015, the truth came to light as Australian journalists, Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, poked holes in her claims, notably exposing her for lying about donating profits from her businesses to several charities. In a tell-all interview in April 2015, she admitted to lying about her cancer diagnosis, though she later backpedaled and claimed that it was actually her doctor who was misled about her diagnosis.
“I lived for years with the fear that I was dying,” she said in an interview with Australia’s 60 Minutes. “I wasn’t living in a space where I didn’t know that this was my reality.” Gibson claimed that she was given the diagnosis in 2009 by an immunologist and neurologist who ran a series of tests during a home visit. However, according to 60 Minutes, no record of this doctor exists.
Did Belle Gibson also lie about her age? Yes
In addition to lying about her terminal brain cancer, Gibson also repeatedly lied about her age. When asked point blank about her real age during her 60 Minutes interview, Gibson failed to give a straight answer.
“I’ve always been raised as being currently a 26-year-old,” she told the reporter. When pressed again about her current age, she responded, “I live knowing as I’ve always known that I would be 26.” She claimed that she has two birth certificates and she has had her name changed four times, which she said has led to an identity crisis on her part.
Did Belle Gibson’s family publicly speak against her? Yes
Growing up, Gibson had a contentious relationship with her estranged mother, Natalie Dal-Bello, who later spoke out against her as her crimes were unveiled.
As shown on the series, her mother did a tell-all interview with Women’s Weekly in 2015, telling her side of the story and pleading with her daughter to tell the truth about her childhood as well as her scams.
“I can’t tell you how embarrassed we are about what she has done,” Dal-Bello told the publication. “And we sincerely wish to apologise to anyone who was deceived by Belle. For what small part we played in her life, we would like to say sorry.”
Though he doesn’t appear as a character on the show, Gibson also has a brother who publicly spoke out against her. In addition to disputing some of her claims, including that he had autism, he also reprimanded her crimes.
“The things she’s done to those families, well, technically it’s fraud,” he told the Daily Mail. “I think she should be locked up, spend some time in prison and have a bit of a think about it because I don’t think she realises what she’s done to them.”
Is Belle Gibson a mom? Yes
As shown on the series, Gibson has a son, whom she welcomed in 2010 prior to her relationship with Clive Rothwell. In 2012, Gibson said that she suffered a miscarriage while she was with Rothwell, as reported by Woman’s Weekly.
During a 2015 interview with the Australian publication, the reporter noted that Gibson became “visibly upset when questioned about [her miscarriage]” and refused to “discuss it, other than to tearfully deny allegations it was another false health crisis.”
Gibson has kept her son out of the spotlight, though she did make several mentions of him while appearing in court in 2019, noting that Rothwell paid for their family trip to Africa, as reported by The Age.
Did Belle Gibson have a rival named Milla Blake? No
Though Gibson didn’t come into contact with anyone named Milla Blake, the character is loosely based on Australian wellness entrepreneur Jessica Ainscough, who died of cancer in February 2015.
Like Milla’s character, Ainscough was diagnosed with a rare cancer at a young age and gained a following for her blog The Wellness Warrior, where she shared her journey of using alternative cancer treatments.
The book The Woman Who Fooled the World, which inspired the Netflix series, touches on Gibson and Ainscough’s relationship. According to the book, the two briefly met at a conference outside of Melbourne.
Though the book states that they were not friends, Gibson did attend Ainscough’s funeral in 2015, as reported by Australian publication, the Sydney Morning Herald.
Did Belle Gibson’s book get published? Yes
As shown on the show, the publication of Gibson’s book The Whole Pantry was a huge controversy at the time. The book was initially published in October 2014, but as Gibson’s scams came to light months later, the book’s publisher Penguin Books announced it would be discontinuing the publication and removing it from the shelves in March 2015.
“Despite our best endeavours, Penguin Books has not received sufficient explanation from Ms Gibson, author of The Whole Pantry recipe book, in response to recent allegations. As such, we have been left with no other option but to stop supplying the book in Australia,” Penguin Books said in a statement at the time, per Woman’s Weekly.
The statement came after the publisher admitted that they never fact-checked Gibson’s story or her claims about treating her cancer with a healthy lifestyle, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.
Did Belle’s close friend help expose her lie? Yes
The character of Chanelle appears to be loosely based on two different people, Ainscough’s manager who is mentioned in the book The Woman Who Fooled the World, as well as Gibson’s close friend, Chanelle McAuliffe.
The latter actually played a pivotal role in exposing Gibson’s lies. As shown on the series, McAuliffe grew suspicious of Gibson and her diagnosis after the influencer had a seizure at her son’s birthday party.
“The party was wrapping up; people were about to leave, and Belle just fell to the ground flat and started convulsing. There was saliva coming out of her mouth. She was having a seizure,” she revealed in the ITV1 documentary, Instagram’s Worst Con Artist. “I said we need to call an ambulance, but as soon as I said that Belle came out of the seizure and said: ‘No, I don’t want Western medicine involved’ because she was healing in herself naturally.”
“When I left the party, I felt sick to my stomach about what I had just seen,” she continued. “This was the point where red flags really started to pop up for me. I was feeling really confused … [and] in my gut, something didn’t feel right.”
She later confronted Gibson about the diagnosis head-on, but when Gibson failed to come clean, McAuliffe went to reporters to uncover the story.
“Finally, a journalist from The Age phoned me. I began telling him everything I knew, the little details that didn’t add up,” she explained. “The journalist began to believe that her charity claims were also fraudulent. They then confirmed with charities that they had not received any donations, so then we knew we had the story, we knew once that broke the rest would unravel.”
Did Clive Rothwell stay with Belle Gibson after her lies were exposed? Yes and no
The status of Rothwell and Gibson’s relationship has been a major point of contention since her crimes were brought to light. Though close friends of Gibson have referred to Rothwell as her partner at the time, Gibson later clarified that they were just friends while appearing in court in 2019, as reported by The Age.
However, she did note that Rothwell paid for many of her expenses, from her share of their $600 per-week rent, various living costs and thousands of dollars in legal expenses. He even paid for a $5,000 trip she and her son took to Africa, she said.
Though Rothwell stuck by Gibson’s side amid her legal woes, in November 2023, it was reported that the two had broken up as Rothwell was spotted with another woman, according to photos obtained by Daily Mail.
Did Belle Gibson really fraud a sick child with cancer? Yes
While Gibson’s lies about having cancer were a major part of her public downfall, her fraudulent claims regarding her charitable donations were another major component of her legal woes.
In 2015, two Australian journalists, Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, exposed her for lying about donating profits from her businesses to several charities. Gibson was later found guilty of engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct in 2017, tied to lying about her charitable donations. She was fined more than $400,000 and as of 2021, still owed much of it to the Victorian government.
Similar to the series, Gibson befriended one family whose son had anaplastic astrocytoma grade III. As Gibson’s scams came to light, the family spoke with the Herald Sun, noting that many of Gibson’s claims about her brain cancer were similar to their son Joshua’s story.
“It wasn’t until I started reading all of the recent media reports about Belle that I started to see the similarities,” Joshua’s mother Penne Schwarz told the publication. “We can’t help but think, ‘Did she use us to get in the mind of Joshua?’ ”
The publication added that they were “blindsided by media reports Gibson last year purported to raise funds for Joshua through sales of her health and wellness app, The Whole Pantry,” noting that never even knew about the fundraiser and never received any money from Gibson.
When the family confronted Gibson about the allegations, they say that she failed to give them a straight answer.
“I wanted to believe her story so much but when I messaged her to see if she was okay and ask her about the allegations she would reply but avoided giving any clear answers, or chose to completely avoid my questions,” Penne said.
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