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It’s been too long since TV blessed us with a great real-life scam story, and Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar, based on the true story of Belle Gibson, is here to deliver. The series takes place at the dawn of Instagram and the influencer culture it spawned, and follows an Australian wellness influencer who finds huge viral fame after she claims to have cured her own terminal brain cancer using entirely non-medical wellness solutions. In reality, no part of her story was true, including her cancer diagnosis.
Keep reading for everything to know about Apple Cider Vinegar, including its release date, cast and real-life inspiration.
Yes, the series is “inspired by a true story that was based on a lie,” per its official synopsis (that line is also repeated throughout the series). It’s based on the real and absolutely wild true story of Belle Gibson, as chronicled in the 2017 book The Woman Who Fooled the World by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano.
In 2009, Belle Gibson began blogging about her health struggles, revealing that she had recently been diagnosed with a malignant and terminal form of brain cancer after collapsing at work. She claimed that she’d initially tried chemotherapy, but had since decided to abandon conventional medical treatments and “heal herself naturally.”
After claiming to be in remission, she garnered millions of followers over the next few years, and used her online fame to launch a wellness empire, Whole Pantry, with a branded app and cookbook to match. She also ran fundraisers on behalf of multiple charities, and claimed to be donating 25 percent of her company’s profits to these organizations.
In 2015, the Sydney Morning Herald published an investigation into those fundraisers, revealing that the donations had never been made. This exposé was the first domino to fall, and within a few months her entire story had been exposed as a lie.
Gibson initially doubled down, accusing the media of bullying her. But that April, she admitted in an interview with The Herald that she had lied about having cancer.
Consumer Affairs Victoria took legal action against Gibson in 2016, and she was ultimately found guilty of five breaches of consumer law. A judge for Australia’s Federal Court, Debra Mortimer, stated that while it was possible Gibson had genuinely held a delusional belief that she had cancer, her actions were still deliberately misleading because she “had no reasonable basis to believe she had cancer from the time she began making these claims in public.” Mortimer also noted that Gibson’s pitch was particularly predatory because it “overwhelmingly used groups likely to evoke sympathy because of their vulnerabilities—young girls, asylum seekers, sick children."
Gibson was fined $410,000, but as of 2021 she still hadn't paid up, leading Australian authorities to raid her home in an attempt to recoup the money. It’s not clear where she’s living in 2025. One thing that is clear, thanks to a very pointed disclaimer that’s incorporated into the script of every episode of Apple Cider Vinegar—she didn't get any money from Netflix.
The series is created by Samantha Strauss (who previously worked on the Hulu series Nine Perfect Strangers), and features an ensemble cast of actors including:
The role of Belle marks Dever’s return to Netflix, six years on from her unforgettable performance in another adaptation of a true story. In 2019’s Unbelievable, she played a rape victim whose trauma is compounded when she’s branded a liar by law enforcement.
“I never wanted to judge her [Gibson] too hard because I wanted to understand her headspace and where she was at in her life and her past as best I could,” Dever told The Sydney Morning Herald in a recent interview. “By that I mean ‘our Belle’ [in the series]—and our Belle is someone who is so broken and really craving love and community in a way that is heartbreaking.”
Debnam-Carey plays Milla Blake, another young woman who gets swept up in the so-called medical wellness movement after being diagnosed with skin cancer. But unlike Belle, Milla’s cancer is very real, and her decision to eschew the recommended medical treatment causes friction within her family.
Dee is an Australian actress who’s best known for her starring role at Kat in Freeform’s The Bold Type. She plays Chanelle, a friend and personal assistant to Belle.
Cobbham-Harvey plays Lucy, a cancer patient who is drawn in by Belle’s seductive promises of a “natural” alternative to chemotherapy.
Aboriginal Australian actor Smith plays Lucy’s husband, Justin, who becomes increasingly alarmed by her commitment to pseudo-scientific alternative treatments as her condition worsens.
Zukerman plays Clive, Belle’s partner and stepdad to her son.
Raei plays Hek, a fixer type for Belle after she's discovered to be a fraud.
Apple Cider Vinegar will be released on Netflix on Feb. 6, 2025.
Apple Cider Vinegar is comprised of six episodes, each lasting for around an hour.
Yes, you can watch the full trailer for the series below. There’s also a preview clip available to watch over at Netflix’s Tudum, which centers on Dever’s Gibson giving a supposedly “transparent” tell-all interview to a TV journalist.
