Netflix’s latest hit drama series, Apple Cider Vinegar, has everyone talking and not just because of its amazing cast or the powerhouse Australian creatives behind it.
What’s really gripping audiences is the jaw-dropping true story it tells. The one of an unbelievable rise and also fall of Belle Gibson, one of Australia’s most infamous fraudsters.
From the very first episode, the show makes one thing clear—this isn’t a documentary. Described as a “true-ish story based on a lie,” the series leans into its self-aware tone, reminding viewers that Belle herself had no involvement in its creation and received no payment.
Instead, the show is based on the book The Woman Who Fooled the World by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, the duo who first exposed Belle’s shocking deception.
So, who exactly is Belle Gibson?
Annabelle “Belle” Gibson was once a celebrated Australian wellness influencer, touting herself as a “Gamechanger with brain cancer + food obsession.” But her story of overcoming terminal brain cancer through natural treatments and a whole food lifestyle was nothing more than a web of lies.
Belle skyrocketed to fame in 2013, claiming her miraculous recovery was thanks to her diet. She quickly gained over 200,000 followers on Instagram, launched an app called The Whole Pantry, and even released a cookbook of the same name in 2014.
People were inspired, charities and stakeholders rallied around her, and Belle became the countries face of wellness.
But everything unraveled in 2015 when mounting questions and pressure from those around her forced her to admit the truth, that her cancer diagnosis was fake.
In a 2015 interview with Australian Women’s Weekly, she came clean, shocking the world and devastating those who believed her.
The fallout was swift. In 2017, Belle was convicted of misleading and deceptive conduct by the Federal Court of Australia and was fined AUD$400,000. Her cookbook was pulled from shelves, and her reputation was left in tatters.
But the biggest mystery remains, why did she lie in the first place? To this day no one really knows.
The journalists who uncovered her fraud hope the series will make viewers think twice before falling for miraculous health solutions that dismiss conventional medicine.
