“A true-ish story based on a lie” — that’s what Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar teases viewers with. The miniseries focuses on Belle Gibson: a convicted scammer from Australia, who was once a wellness guru that lied about beating cancer with certain diet, exercise and medicinal choices. Since Gibson’s rise and fall is depicted in the new show, viewers are dying to learn more about the mysteries ex-influencer whom Apple Cider Vinegar is based on.
The six-episode show explores the early days of Instagram and how wellness culture became a whole new world thanks to social media. The series is not a biopic, though, as Netflix clarified; it includes a few fictional characters but unravels a dramatized version of Gibson’s story.
Below, Hollywood Life has compiled all the details about Gibson and the Netflix series.
Who Is Belle Gibson?
Gibson was a wellness guru who lied about living with multiple forms of cancer, including malignant brain, kidney and blood cancer. She started a fitness and diet empire by launching an app and a book, both titled The Whole Pantry.
During a 2015 interview with Australia’s Women’s Weekly, Gibson claimed she grew up in a difficult household in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, with a mom who battled multiple sclerosis and brother who was allegedly on the autism spectrum.
“When I started school, my mum went, ‘My daughter is grown up now,’” she told the publication at the time. “All of a sudden, I was walking to school on my own, making school lunches and cleaning the house every day. It was my responsibility to do grocery shopping, do the washing, arrange medical appointments and pick up my brother. I didn’t have toys.”
Eventually, Gibson admitted she fabricated the cancer claims, and her family members disputed her backstory. While speaking with the Herald Sun in 2015, Gibson’s mother, Natalie Dal-Bello (who later died in 2017 from MS) called her daughter’s story “a lot of rubbish” and noted, “Belle never cared for me, her brother is not autistic and she’s barely done a minute’s housework in her life.”
Where Is Belle Gibson Now?
In 2017, Gibson was hit with more than $400,000 in fines, per PEOPLE. She has reportedly stayed under the raider ever since, even after law enforcement raided her home.
Who Plays Belle Gibson in Apple Cider Vinegar?
Actress Kaitlyn Dever plays the role of Gibson. Dever is recognized for roles in a slew of films and miniseries, such as Dopesick, Rosaline, No One Will Save You and season 2 of The Last of Us.
Dever spoke with Netflix’s The Tudum about how she got into character for Apple Cider Vinegar, pointing out that she “holds the wellness world so close” to her heart.
“The show really does an amazing job at shedding light on the confusion that surrounds the medical world and the wellness industry — and also human behavior and why we lie,” the actress said. “It does have very high stakes and feels very life and death.”
Is There a Belle Gibson Documentary?
Per IMDb, the documentary TV special Bad Influencer: The Great Insta Con explored Gibson’s rise and fall as a wellness guru and her run-ins with the law.
