'Apple Cider Vinegar' True Story: Belle Gibson the Real Wellness Con

In “Apple Cider Vinegar,” a new Netflix series released on Thursday, Kaitlyn Dever plays Belle Gibson, a real Australian woman who proliferated a scam about overcoming terminal brain cancer through healthy eating. Gibson built a career around her fake cancer diagnosis, gaining a large Instagram following, creating a recipe app called The Whole Pantry and writing a cookbook with the same title.

“Apple Cider Vinegar” is a semi-fictional account of Gibson’s story. Alycia Debnam-Carey also stars as the fictional influencer Milla, who peddles wellness treatments but has a genuine cancer diagnosis. Aisha Dee plays Chanelle, Milla’s friend who reveals Belle’s scam to the media. Tilda Cobham-Hervey plays Lucy, a cancer patient who follows Belle, and Mark Coles Smith is Lucy’s husband and a journalist who investigates the fake cancer claims.

The real Gibson, an active blogger, lied in 2009 about only having four months to live following a brain cancer diagnosis. She said that after trying out chemotherapy, she was determined to heal through wellness treatments. By 2013, Gibson’s influence was rising. Her Instagram grew considerably, reaching over 200,000 followers at the height of her popularity.

Gibson launched The Whole Pantry app in 2014, which was highlighted as Apple’s best food and drink app. Elle Australia published a piece about Gibson with the headline, “The Most Inspiring Woman You’ve Met This Year.” Cosmopolitan bestowed its “Fun Fearless Female” award upon Gibson. That same year, Gibson’s lie included the claim that she had cancer in her uterus, spleen, liver and blood.

Gibson was able to expand the success of the app into a cookbook deal with Penguin, but her scheme began falling apart in 2015. Her business went under scrutiny after reporters Beau Donnelly and Nick Toscano wrote about Gibson’s failure to donate fundraised money to charity as she’d publicly said she would. Her cancer story would crumble soon.

In May 2015, Gibson confirmed to The Australian Women’s Weekly that she didn’t have cancer: “None of it’s true.” Gibson eventually received a $410,000 fine in 2017 for misleading and deceptive conduct. Her home was raided multiple times after the fines went unpaid.

Donnelly and Toscano further explored Gibson’s con in their 2017 book, “The Woman Who Fooled the World,” which is the basis of the Netflix show.