Netflix viewers are set to be shocked as a new drama will tell the true story of an influencer who faked having terminal cancer in order to gain followers.
Kaitlyn Dever will star as Belle Gibson, a real life fitness guru who lied about the deadly diagnosis before she was found out.
The series releases tomorrow, February 6, on Netflix, with Dever joined in the cast by Alycia Debnam-Carey, Aisha Dee, and Ashley Zukerman.
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Gibson’s story is one that needs a huge tag at the start of the series clarifying it is based on genuine true facts, because otherwise you’d struggle to believe it.
The show is called Apple Cider Vinegar, and focuses on how Gibson claimed she had ‘cured’ her brain cancer through a combination of wellness and healthy living.
The entire thing was a sham, with her raising 10s of 1,000s of dollars for charities she did not donate to.
Though not everything in the show is 100% true, it is based on the bonkers true story and is inspired by the 2017 book The Woman Who Fooled the World by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano.
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The Netflix series is set in the early days of Instagram, and follows Dever as Gibson alongside Alycia Debnam-Carey as Milla Blake, who is not a real influencer but likely a composition of several contemporaries of Gibson’s.
She looks to promote healthy eating as a way of combatting cancer.
Potential spoilers lie ahead for the true story behind Apple Cider Vinegar.
Gibson was discovered in real life because of an app she created called The Whole Pantry which contained 80 recipes to ‘heal the body’.
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Gibson made over £200,000 from this and promised a cut of the profits to charities, something she did not follow through on.
This caused internet sleuths to dig into the story and, as cracks began to form, she admitted she had made the whole thing up.
She was then fined in Australian courts for almost the full sum she earned from The Whole Pantry.
Gibson appeared on 60 minutes Australia, where she admitted lying about the diagnosis, but somehow also stated she had been ‘duped’ by quack doctors.
Samantha Strauss, the creator of the show, said of making Apple Cider Vinegar off the back of this insane true story: “It’s really interesting to look at how media uses food as a weapon against us and how much we crave the nourishment, but how much of a privilege and how expensive it is to try to be well.”
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Apple Cider Vinegar releases on Netflix, February 6.
Michael Slavin