To anyone tuned into the $6.3 trillion global wellness industry, the words ‘apple cider vinegar’ will come with immediate connotations: holistic health, rejuvenation, glowing skin, strong hair, an altogether more virtuous and morally superior way of living your life. It’s an image that countless wellness influencers and entrepreneurs have worked hard to sell over the past decade or so – and Belle Gibson was right at the forefront of the movement.

The Australian influencer/businesswoman/scammer (delete as appropriate) is the subject of a new Netflix limited series, Apple Cider Vinegar, documenting her rise from a young, beautiful cancer sufferer with a fervent belief in the power of her own alternative therapies, to influencer with a following in the millions and a chart topping app, to stunning, highly-publicised exposure as a liar, scammer and dangerous charlatan turning true cancer patients away from traditional treatments that could save their lives.

Portrayed by the truly brilliant Kaitlyn Dever, who paints Gibson with a moreish mixture of saccharine earnestness and chilling Girl Boss-style absurdity, the series flits between timelines and viewpoints, telling Gibson’s story both from her own standpoint as misunderstood victim and through the eyes of those who followed, believed and, ultimately, suffered at the hands of her advice. It’s a neat juxtaposition that underscores the seductive power of someone seemingly thriving under her cancer diagnosis with the help of home therapies to vulnerable young women otherwise facing a future of chemotherapy, amputation and mastectomy.

Let’s get to the crux of the matter: Belle Gibson built a million dollar empire on her story of alternative cancer management – but was she ever actually sick? In a word, no. As Gibson tells it, she was diagnosed with a stage four malignant brain tumour in 2009 at the age of 17, shortly after moving from Perth to Melbourne and not long before the birth of her son. She began blogging about her cancer journey online, claiming she had beaten her doctors’ six weeks to four months prognosis by withdrawing from chemotherapy and treating herself with, as she put it, “nutrition, patience, determination, and love”.

She was the picture of health. Radiating through phone screens with her message of plant-based diets, mindfulness, and the power of natural remedies, her following quickly grew into the hundreds of thousands (quite the feat bearing in mind the term ‘influencer’ barely existed at that time) and, in 2013, she launched The Whole Pantry, a nutrition and wellness app which quickly shot to the top of the Apple app charts, gaining 200,000 downloads in its first month alone. By 2014, it was coming pre-installed on new iPads, and was followed by a cookbook of the same name, with each facet contributing towards one singular message: you don’t need traditional, painful, debilitating cancer treatments, you can cure yourself with diet and a positive mental attitude.

Except it was all a lie. Despite maintaining, until as late as 2014, that she was continually battling the original brain tumour, as well as cancers in her spleen, liver, blood and kidneys, Gibson has never had a cancer diagnosis. Instead, she discovered a world of addictive online attention when posting about (fake) medical issues in forums for expectant mothers, eventually coming across Jessica Ainscough (renamed Milla Blake and played in the series by Alycia Debnam-Carey), a real cancer sufferer who grew to internet fame around the same time as Gibson.

While Apple Cider Vinegar muddles the timeline slightly, in reality, it was information shared by Ainscough about her cancer and her own belief in alternative therapies that would provide a blueprint for Gibson’s deception. Ainscough, who would die of cancer aged 30, was a strong proponent of the work of the Gerson Institute in Mexico (named the Hersh Institute in the series), which claimed its rigorous regime could kickstart ‘the body's extraordinary ability to heal itself through an organic, plant-based diet, raw juices, coffee enemas and natural supplements’. All of these elements would eventually end up in Gibson’s wellness regimen, alongside highly-controversial advocations against vaccinations and for raw milk, both of which are illegal or heavily penalised under Australian law.

An undeniably brilliant marketer, in the end it was Gibson’s need to be not only successful, but loved that caused her downfall. Throughout her rise to fame, Gibson had been continually fundraising for various cancer charities, including claiming to raise money to fund the treatment of a young child she had befriended. When the charities began asking questions about where these donations were in late 2014, and the child’s parents came forward to say they knew nothing about her fundraising, questions were finally asked about the voracity of her claims.

Spurred on by whistleblowing from Gibson’s former friend Chanelle McAuliffe (played by Aisha Dee), ABC’s Media Watch began investigating, finding that both Elle Australia and Cosmopolitan had received and dismissed claims that Gibson had fabricated her story after running laudatory articles on her. It also found that both Apple and Penguin, publisher of The Whole Pantry, had failed to do due diligence in fact checking Gibson’s health claims. Eventually, in April 2015, Gibson admitted to having fabricated her entire cancer diagnosis in an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly, blaming her actions on the continuing effects of a childhood with a neglectful mother.

The jig was well and truly up. Gibson was convicted of breaking Australian consumer law and fined $410,000, her online following was decimated, her company and life left in ruins. The figure of the con artist may be timeworn but in Belle Gibson – and women like Anna Sorokin and Caroline Calloway who would follow her – it found a new, more insidious form. Using the veneer of authenticity and direct connection afforded by social media, Gibson found targets in the millions, operating in a space that not only convinced her believers to part with their money, but put their health at risk, too.

Apple Cider Vinegar is available to stream on Netflix now.

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