Netflix’s new miniseries, Apple Cider Vinegar, plunges viewers into the world of twisted truths and influencer trickery as we follow Belle Gibson and her story of illness, wellness and deceit.
Based on the book, The Woman Who Fooled the World, the series is a “true-ish” story, following lies told by a woman of the same name.
Belle was an Australian influencer who conned her followers into thinking she had terminal brain cancer, which she supposedly cured with alternative therapies. But who is the real Belle and what really happened? Keep on reading…
Who is Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar based on?
In 2015, investigative journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano exposed popular wellness influencer Belle Gibson’s darkest secrets – her claims about having terminal brain cancer and donating proceeds from her wellness app to charity were completely untrue.
But how did she fool the world? Belle Gibson’s social media told the unbelievable story that after being told she only had four months to live, she had “cured” her inoperable brain cancer through following a plant-based diet.
As Belle’s story captured the hearts of users, giving many hope for more natural alternatives, her follower count sky-rocketed and as did the wellness industry surrounding her.
Now worth £2.8 trillion worldwide, the influence of social media creators largely bolstered the wellness business boom, with social media creators with very similar passions to Belle sharing their opinions and wellness techniques with users.
How Belle Gibson fooled the world…
At the height of Belle’s online fame, the general public were quickly beginning to emulate the health fads that bloggers were selling online, making the incredible dream that Belle was selling all the more easy to stomach.
A line from Belle’s book read: “I was empowering myself to save my own life through nutrition, patience, determination and love.”
Unfortunately, everything Belle claimed was a lie.
In September 2017, Belle was fined over £200,000 by the Australian government for misleading readers about donating money to charity – she was also found guilty of five breaches of consumer law following journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano uncovering her deceit.
Inside wellness influencer Belle Gibson’s lies
The BBC reports that a judge at the time said Belle may have “genuinely” believed what she was saying was true. They also stated that she may have been having “delusions” about her health.
In July 2014, Belle had told her fans in an Instagram post that she had been diagnosed with a further four cancers, following years of sharing similar claims in online chatrooms.
She tragically told her hundreds of thousands of followers: “It’s in my blood, spleen, brain, uterus and liver.”
Her followers were obviously heartbroken for her. Now, of course, we know this was all a lie.
In 2015, in an interview with Australian Women’s Weekly, she was asked outright if her having cancer was real.
She said: “No. None of it’s true.”
“I don’t want forgiveness,” Belle added. ”I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say, ‘Okay, she’s human. She’s obviously had a big life.
“‘She’s respectfully come to the table and said what she’s needed to say, and now it’s time for her to grow and heal.’”
Belle Gibson’s social media empire
Belle built her social media empire off claims she had cured her terminal illness with Ayurvedic medicine, oxygen therapy and a gluten and refined sugar-free diet.
Her popular app and cookbook, both called The Whole Pantry and backed by business giants like Apple and Penguin, made over 420,000 Australian dollars – a sum of which she had promised to deliver to several charities.
Ultimately, reports claim that the money never reached the charities, magnifying the cracks apparent in Belle Gibson’s baseless story.
Belle Gibson has since gone under the radar and disappeared from social media. According to online sources, authorities began to seize Belle’s assets in recent years, after the fine issued by the Australian government has remained unpaid.
Meanwhile, Belle’s story is at the centre of Netflix’s latest miniseries, Apple Cider Vinegar. Will you be tuning in?
So, what do you think to Belle’s story? Will you be watching Apple Cider Vinegar? Leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know!
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Belle claimed she was ’empowering’ herself to ‘save her own life’
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