This Apple Cider Vinegar Netflix show has me totally intrigued. And thank goodness for that, ’cause I desperately need a new show to binge after finishing all seven seasons of Younger in two weeks. The six-part limited series dropped on the streaming platform on February 6 and tells the story of a wellness influencer who claims to have cured her terminal brain cancer by using holistic treatments and a clean diet. (No, this is most definitely not a thing.) When I read this synopsis, I realized this story sounds kinda familiar… Is Apple Cider Vinegar based on a true story, you ask? Yeah, and it’s a pretty damn crazy one.

Is Apple Cider Vinegar a True Story? Belle Gibson Cancer-Curing Scam Explained

Is Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar Based On Belle Gibson’s Scam?

Kaitlyn Dever in 'Apple Cider Vinegar'

Image Credit: Netflix

Yes, the limited series is based on disgraced Australian influencer Belle Gibson’s famous cancer scam. In Netflix’s wording, Apple Cider Vinegar is a “true-ish story based on a lie.” Australian journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano reported on Belle’s cancer and wellness lies in the Australian newspaper, The Age, and also in the 2017 book, The Woman Who Fooled the World. Their writing is what inspired Australian writer Samantha Strauss to turn the story into a TV show. Kaitlyn Dever (Unbelievable, Dopesick) stars as Belle.

Per Netflix, the show is “a cultural interrogation of the times, exploring the birth of Instagram, the allure and rise of wellness culture, peak “girlboss” start-up culture, and the age of innocence on social media when very few checks and balances were in place.” I can’t wait.

Who Is Belle Gibson?

Belle Gibson 'Apple Cider Vinegar'

Sigh. Yet another young white woman con artist. It’s giving Elizabeth Holmes, Anna Delvey, etc. Belle used to have a super popular wellness Instagram account, @healing_belle, and she famously founded The Whole Pantry app, which offered recipes, lifestyle support, and wellness guides before it was removed from the App Store in 2015.

Belle conned a whole lot of people by pretending to be deathly ill and cure herself. In 2009, the former Australian influencer claimed that she had multiple heart operations and then received a terminal brain cancer diagnosis with four months to live. She said she tried radiation and chemotherapy for eight weeks before turning to a healthy diet and holistic practices to treat herself.

According to Elle, Belle said that she was using oxygen therapy, colonics, and Ayurvedic treatments, and eating “clean” by cutting out gluten, dairy and GMO products. The influencer claimed that she was able to cure herself of the terminal brain cancer with these wellness practices. This “miracle” is what allegedly inspired her to launch The Whole Pantry in 2013.

But alas, she was a massive fraud. In 2015, the Australian journalists, Beau and Nick, discovered that Belle had lied about donating profits from her businesses to charities. Then, it came to light that this girl lied about her age and about having cancer. She was found guilty of engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct in 2017.

What a wildly offensive, damaging, and heinous scam.

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