True crime and scammer stories are rife with shocking details ideal for dramatization. That’s no more true than with Netflix’s latest limited series, “Apple Cider Vinegar.” From the same streaming platform that brought the story of con artist Anna Delvey to the small screen, the series is based on the true story of Australian scammer Belle Gibson and further scrutinizes the alternative medicine and wellness industry.
The limited series hit Netflix on Feb. 6 and features a leading performance from its Emmy-nominated star, Kaitlyn Dever. Created by Samantha Strauss and based on the book “The Woman Who Fooled the World” by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, the show does take a few liberties with Belle Gibson’s real-life story. Ahead, WWD unpacks all the details behind Netflix’s “Apple Cider Vinegar.”
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What Is “Apple Cider Vinegar” About?
“Apple Cider Vinegar” is an iteration of Belle Gibson’s story. Gibson is an Australian woman who, in the early and mid-2010s, lied about her cancer diagnosis.
Gibson, whose fame reached its greatest height in 2014, became a wellness guru, using her faux cancer diagnosis as a way to amass a large following on social media and created her own wellness app, The Whole Pantry.
The creation of Gibson’s app eventually led to an international cookbook deal, which Penguin later canceled.
Gibson became famous for her claims that self care remedies and eating habits kept her cancer under control. The scammer earned roughly $500,000 from her app, lucrative deals and more.
By 2015, however, the truth about Gibson’s story was unearthed — she never had cancer to begin with. In an interview with Women’s Weekly, Gibson even admitted she never had cancer, although she later changed the story again during an appearance on “60 Minutes Australia.”
“Apple Cider Vinegar” chronicles Gibson’s rise and fall in the wellness space and as a social media influencer. The limited series also takes liberties with the story of Milla Blake, loosely based on the real-life Jessica Ainscough, who was an Australian journalist and wellness advocate known as “The Wellness Warrior.” Ainscough created an unconventional way of treating cancer that involved a strict organic vegetarian diet, dietary supplements and daily coffee enemas.
The title of the show, as illustrated in its last episode, is inspired by the culture of wellness gurus who promote unproven remedies as cure-alls.
Who Stars in “Apple Cider Vinegar”?
Kaitlyn Dever, who earned an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for her work in the 2021 limited series “Dopesick,” stars as Belle Gibson in the Netflix series. Alycia Debnam-Carey also stars in the series as Milla Blake, who is presented as a rival to Belle.
The series also stars Aisha Dee of “The Bold Type” fame, Mark Coles Smith, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Chai Hansen and more.
What Happened to the Real People Portrayed in “Apple Cider Vinegar”?
In 2017, Gibson was fined roughly $410,000 by the Federal Court of Australia, citing her deception that she’d donated income to charitable causes when, in reality, Gibson was spending the money on herself. Gibson has reportedly not yet paid her outstanding fine.
The character Milla Blake, based on the real-life Jessica Ainscough, takes liberties with the real story of Ainscough. In the series, Milla and Belle are presented as rivals. In real life, Ainscough and Gibson didn’t have much of a relationship.
Ainscough was a real woman diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma when she was 22. Ainscough documented her journey of alternative medicinal methods through her personal blog. She died in 2015 at the age of 29.
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