Who was Belle Gibson and what did she do? Details from the upcoming Apple Cider Vinegar TV show explored

Netflix has dropped the first trailer of the much-awaited Australian true crime series Apple Cider Vinegar. The show involves Belle Gibson, an Australian single mother who reached heights with her wellness empire based on her fake cancer story.

The six-episode limited series explores the life of Belle Gibson, an Instagram wellness influencer who claimed to cure her terminal brain cancer by following a healthy lifestyle and good food habits.

Inspired by the book The Woman Who Fooled The World, written by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano this series will be released on Netflix on February 6, 2025.

The synopsis of the Netflix true-ish crime show reads:

"Set at the birth of Instagram, Apple Cider Vinegar follows two young women who advocate for wellness remedies to cure deadly illnesses, ununravelling their lives as they unknowingly- and knowingly-mislead the world"

How did Apple Cider Vinegar's Belle Gibson create a wellness empire?

Born on October 8, 1991, in Launceston, Tasmania, Gibson was a rebellious child who left her home at 12. After her initial education, she dropped out of school in Year 10 after which she was homeschooled.

The whole hoax wellness business started when Gibson moved to Melbourne and launched her 'The Whole Pantry' app in August 2013 at the peak of a social media revolution.

Gibson became quite popular after the release of the app which was followed by a book deal and her rise as a prominent wellness celebrity. Across various platforms, she raised claims of curing her terminal brain cancer with a good lifestyle.

Gibson ditched the medical processes claiming a Gardasil HPV vaccine was the reason for her health condition.

However, things took a sour turn for the influencer. Just weeks before the launch of her cookbook in the US and UK, her hoax business was exposed by The Age stating a fake cancer diagnosis.

Adding to her misfortune, her charity scams got exposed too by Fairfax. Gibson never donated the thousands of dollars that she promised to with the funds raised by the app and book.

Gibson finally admitted to The Australian Woman Weekly that she never had cancer. She confessed by saying,

"None of it is true. It's just very scary t,o be honest"

Apart from major backlash from social media, Gibson also faced fines of $1 million for misguiding cancer patients and promoting hoax methods to cure it. Gibson later begged for empathy in interviews alleging she had a rough childhood due to her mother's illness.

What is Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar all about?

Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar is all set to release worldwide on February 6, 2025. The story of the rise and fall of the wellness hoax promoter Belle Gibson will be explored.

Last year the short teaser featured Booksmart's famed Kaitlyn Dever who plays Belle Gibson.

Other prominent cast members include Tilda Cobham Hervey (in the role of a cancer patient), Alycia Debnam Carey, Ashley Zukerman, Mark Coles Smith, Richard Davies, Phoneix Raei, Susie Porter, Matt Nable, Kieran Darcy-Smith, Catherine McClements, Essie Davis and Aisha Dee. It

Crafted by Australian award-winning writer Samantha Strauss, the limited series is set to not just show the rise and fall of Belle Gibson but also highlight the fake assumptions of the wellness industry.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter Strauss mentioned:

What we've tried to do in this series is to show that none of these issues are entirely black and white- we wanted it to live in the grey zone,"

Stressing more on the humor side of the series, she continued:

"It's about showing what it's like to be a young woman coping with weightiest issues- life and death- but also staying open to the humor in the hardest moments"