On adapting the story, Apple Cider Vinegar creator Samantha Strauss told TUDUM: “The source material offered up terrific bones for a really interesting look at the rise and fall of a con woman.
“But Apple Cider Vinegar is about more than that. This story just couldn’t exist without showing someone like Lucy [a cancer patient, played by Tilda Cobham-Hervey] — she is the real-world consequences.”
Apple Cider Vinegar also tells the story of a second influencer, Milla Blake, who Strauss describes as someone who “becomes blind to the truth” of her deteriorating health.
Although Strauss has not named her, Milla’s story is strikingly similar to that of late Australian influencer Jess Ainscough, who suffered the same form of cancer and used the same alternative therapies alongside her mother, as depicted in the show.
On what could have motivated Gibson’s shocking deception, the screenwriter added: “You tell a lie enough times, you perhaps believe it. It becomes your own truth. We probably do that all the time, every day.”
Read on to find out more about the stories of both women, including how they intersected as depicted in Apple Cider Vinegar on Netflix – you may also be interested in the Belle Gibson documentaries that are currently available to stream.
Is Apple Cider Vinegar based on a true story?
Apple Cider Vinegar is based on the true story of Belle Gibson, a social media influencer who rose to fame by falsely claiming she had terminal brain cancer.
She operated under the handle @Healing_Belle, where she amassed hundreds of thousands of followers by chronicling her story, which initially seemed both tragic and inspiring.
Gibson told the world that she had been diagnosed with an inoperable, malignant brain tumour at age 20, for which she initially underwent two months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
After suffering harsh side effects, she claimed to have left conventional medicine behind in favour of treating her illness with alternative therapies and a strict, healthy diet.
From 2013, she would go on to monetise her recipes and diet plan, free from dairy, gluten, preservatives, GMO foods and sugar, in a website and later app called The Whole Pantry – which proved to be a massive hit.
Gibson appealed to a wide audience who were heartbroken by her imagined adversity, but captivated by her resilience and positive attitude in the face of tough odds.
Actual cancer sufferers were part of her fan base, finding hope in her story of living with the condition far beyond what doctors had predicted (four months), without having to endure invasive medical treatments or surgeries.
Critics of Gibson have raised concern that some of these people may have delayed or refused conventional treatment for their cancers in favour of following her example, which is a move that could have cost them their lives.
Unfortunately, the influencer faced shockingly little scrutiny at the height of her popularity – the years 2013 and 2014 – which saw her sign a book deal with Penguin Australia and win a ‘Fun, Fearless Female Award’ from Cosmopolitan.
Towards the end of her online dominance, Gibson’s app was also one of a select few to be programmed for the then-upcoming Apple Watch device.
Who were the journalists who brought down Belle Gibson?
Unease was steadily brewing among believers in conventional medicine, who were sceptical of how Gibson could appear so healthy and energetic without receiving any professional care for her serious condition.
One such person happened to be journalist Richard Guilliatt, who had seen what the illness can do to a person first-hand when his wife, Susan, underwent treatment for breast cancer years earlier.
“I had been writing about the wellness phenomenon since 2012,” he told the BBC for a documentary. “And then I came across Belle Gibson’s claims online – and I was just immediately intrigued by them.
“Because I’d written about the wellness industry and had interviewed a range of cancer specialists, I just was immediately suspicious about her claim about this brain tumour.”
He added: “You just don’t live with something like that for five years without having some kind of treatment.”
The character of journalist Justin (Mark Coles-Smith) in Apple Cider Vinegar appears to be a composite of Guilliatt (sharing his personal backstory) as well as fellow reporters Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano (who uncovered Gibson’s failure to pass on funds raised for charity).
Contrary to events in the series, Guilliatt actually did sit down with Gibson for an interview just prior to her downfall.
During the conversation, she retracted an announcement made via Instagram in July 2014 that her cancer had spread to her blood, spleen, uterus and liver, suggesting instead that this was a misdiagnosis.
He recalled: “I was just completely stunned that she would backtrack from this extraordinary claim that she’d only made seven months earlier. I just walked away from that interview with my head spinning.”
Guilliatt had also unearthed posts from a skateboarding forum in 2009, which suggested Gibson had lied about her age and about having other serious health conditions and procedures, including heart attacks and open heart surgery.
This, combined with the aforementioned charity story, were major blows to Gibson’s credibility and prompted further scrutiny of her initial cancer claim, which had never been backed up by medical records.
In April 2015, the influencer finally confessed to Australian Women’s Weekly that “none of it’s true”. The Whole Pantry and Gibson’s personal online presence was rapidly disassembled, while Penguin’s tie-in book was pulped.
The publishing giant was the subject of criticism the following year for failing to properly investigate and verify Belle’s claims before signing a deal for her cookbook, which included her faux story of managing brain cancer with diet.
In September 2016, Donelly and Toscano reported for The Sydney Morning Herald that Penguin executives had been conscious of “gaps” in Gibson’s story and attempted to prepare her for probing questions from journalists.
In the week following the book’s release, the publisher even hired a PR firm to draft crisis plans should negative stories about Gibson begin to emerge in the press, with a desire to “avoid” being part of the story.
On those who worked with Gibson, Donelly told The Guardian: “I think a lot of these people have some things to answer for. A lot of them took her story hook, line and sinker, and they endorsed her, and they partnered with her, and they used her – and she used them.”
Did Belle Gibson really appear on 60 Minutes?
Yes, in June 2015, Gibson gave an interview to Australian current affairs programme 60 Minutes, where she was grilled on her initial story and put forward an amended version of events.
She claimed that, in 2009, a man named Mark Johns, who claimed to be an immunologist and neurologist, came to her home and used a machine to measure “frequencies” inside her body – ultimately diagnosing her with brain cancer.
60 Minutes could not find any record of Johns existing.
Gibson said that she originally omitted this part of her story as she feared people would be “disappointed or angry” with her for not following a conventional route to diagnosis.
Although she acknowledged that she never actually had a brain tumour, Gibson’s principal defence was that she believed she did at the time due to deception by the never-found Dr Johns and the misdiagnosis of another “health guru”.
Did Belle Gibson really fake symptoms of cancer?
In an interview with Herald Sun, the family of a sick boy – who Gibson claimed to be raising money for – expressed their concerns that she had used his real cancer case to inform what her own fabricated symptoms should be.
The boy’s mother, Penne Schwarz, said: “We can’t help but think, ‘Did she use us to get in the mind of Joshua?’ She’d always ask heaps of questions about Joshy’s cancer and treatments. Was it to give her more credibility?”
When asked for a response to the Schwarz family on 60 Minutes, Gibson said: “Their family means a lot to me because of the care and the love and the friendship that we had grown over the last year.
“I understand that they’re hurting, but I also know that I never questioned Joshua or his mother about his symptoms.”
In the aftermath of Gibson’s downfall, the Schwarz family claimed that they were unaware of any fundraiser for their son by the influencer nor had they received any money from her.
They also noted that their association with Gibson had made them the subjects of doubtful and hateful comments too.
Penne added: “They are saying the most horrendous things. They are sceptical about Joshy’s diagnosis. But we are a real-life cancer family. We are living and breathing the reality every day that we don’t know how much longer we have with our son.”
Is Milla Blake in Apple Cider Vinegar based on a real person?
Yes, Apple Cider Vinegar character Milla Blake appears to be inspired by late blogger Jessica Ainscough, who was also known as the ‘Wellness Warrior’.
As depicted in the show, Ainscough was diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma – a rare form of cancer – in April 2008 at age 22, having previously lived a fast-paced party lifestyle as a lifestyle magazine journalist.
The cancer was located in the soft tissue of her left arm, with the first recommendation from doctors being that she have it amputated up to the shoulder to reduce, albeit not eliminate, the possibility that it spreads to other parts of the body.
Ainscough was reluctant to go through with the amputation, instead undergoing an experimental form of chemotherapy which involved an unusually high dosage being intravenously administered and isolated to her arm.
The cancer appeared to be in remission in early post-treatment scans, but returned mere months later, leaving Ainscough disillusioned and seeking out alternatives.
In 2010, she travelled to Mexico to learn how to follow Gerson therapy, which is a highly controversial treatment that she would ultimately continue with for another two years.
The demanding and intrusive regimen involves a strict organic and vegetarian diet, including 13 glasses (approximately 9kg) of fruit and vegetable juice per day (one per hour) and up to five coffee or castor oil enemas per day.
Cancer Research UK states that “there is no scientific evidence that [Gerson therapy] can treat cancer or its symptoms” and warns that following the regimen can have “severe side effects”, including infections, dehydration and bowel inflammation.
Ainscough chronicled her health journey on a blog called The Wellness Warrior and associated social media pages, developing a sizeable following of fans – including Belle Gibson.
In April 2013, the two of them actually shared a stage with other wellness influencers for a ticketed event in Melbourne, where Gibson described Ainscough as one of her “greatest teachers and champions” (via The Australian).
Although Ainscough was truthful about her cancer diagnosis, she was still criticised by some readers of her blog and members of the medical community for her advocation of alternative medicine in the treatment of cancer.
But the influencer claimed to have always had the support of her friends and parents (via Up for a Chat Podcast), with mother Sharyn also choosing Gerson therapy over conventional treatment when she was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 2011.
Sadly, Sharyn died in October 2013, aged 57 – and by that point, Jess was also suffering from worsening symptoms.
Her deteriorating health brought her back to conventional medicine the following year, writing in December 2014 that she had realised “everything has a place”.
Ainscough passed away in February 2015, aged 29. Gibson was seen “sobbing” among the mourners at her funeral, which was held just four days before news stories discrediting her were published.
In the aftermath of Ainscough’s death and Gibson’s fall from grace, oncologist Dr Ranjana Srivastava warned of a “troubling” rise in the “extreme therapies” that they, and other wellness influencers, had brought attention to.
“There is an extreme false reassurance offered by alternative therapies that promises nothing less than a cure, which no oncologist does,” she said. “So you have a dichotomy between what conventional medicine offers and what alternative therapies offer.”
Another oncologist, Dr David Gorski, concluded (via Science-Based Medicine): “As outraged as we might have been over Ainscough’s promotion of the Gerson protocol in life, as we mourn, we should also remember that Jess Ainscough was also a victim of the very pseudoscience that she promoted.”
Where is Belle Gibson now?
In September 2017, a federal court based in Melbourne, Australia ordered Belle Gibson to pay A$410,000 (approximately £204,000) to the state of Victoria, relating to false claims of charitable donations during her period of success (via The Guardian).
Although she had been at risk of incurring a maximum penalty of A$1.1 million, court justice Debra Mortimer decided to keep the figure within a range that could reasonably be paid back.
Alas, as of February 2025, the fine reportedly remains unpaid and Australian outlet Herald Sun states that it has even grown to A$500,000 due to interest and court costs, prompting fears that it may never be recouped.
The disgraced influencer has not publicly commented on the fine since 2019, when she appeared in court and told officials she could not afford to pay it.
Since then, Gibson’s house has been raided on two occasions, in January 2020 and May 2021, by authorities from the Sheriff’s Office of Victoria seeking to make up the money by seizing valuable items.
Months prior to the first raid of Gibson’s home, it emerged that she had attempted to embed herself in Melbourne’s Oromo Ethiopian community, claiming that she had been “adopted” by them and now went by the name Sabontu.
Dr Tarekegn Chimdi, then-president of the Australian Oromo Community Association, subsequently commented that Gibson was neither a member nor a registered volunteer with the community.
As of August 2021, she was living in a rented property with her son and longtime friend and/or partner Clive Rothwell, with Australian Women’s Weekly writing in an investigative piece that she has “no assets”.
Today, Gibson keeps a low profile and generally does not comment on media enquiries. Earlier this year, a spokesperson for Consumers Affair Victoria told Herald Sun that they were still pursuing the money that she owes.
Apple Cider Vinegar is available to stream on Netflix.
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