It was the cancer lie that enraged a nation.
Belle Gibson rose to prominence in 2012 as a self-proclaimed health guru who had ‘cured’ her own brain cancer through healthy eating, clean living and ‘positive thinking’.
Within a year, her inspirational Instagram account @healing_belle had amassed hundreds of thousands of followers, many of them hopeful cancer sufferers, who would go on to download her wellness app, The Whole Pantry, and buy her cookbook of the same name.
Throughout it all, Gibson claimed her earnings – reportedly in excess of $1million – would be donated to various cancer charities.
But there was just one big problem: Gibson never had cancer.
Her empire came crashing down after two Australian journalists discovered she had been lying about it all – not just her disease, but her philanthropy too.
The tale of Australian wellness scammer Belle Gibson is reaching a global audience thanks to Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar, a ‘true-ish’ six-part series which stars Kaitlyn Dever (pictured)
Belle Gibson (pictured) rose to prominence in 2012 as a self-proclaimed health guru who ‘cured’ her own brain cancer through healthy eating, clean living and ‘positive thinking’. But there was just one big problem: Gibson never had cancer
Now the tale of the wellness scammer is reaching a global audience thanks to Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar, a ‘true-ish’ six-part series which stars Kaitlyn Dever as Gibson and Alycia Debnam-Carey as Milla, another cancer influencer who actually had the disease.
As the mini series tops Netflix’s charts around the world, many viewers have been left wondering: what happened to Gibson after she vanished from the spotlight?
It turns out the epilogue of Gibson’s life of lies is every bit as dramatic as the main story. From her new identity to why she split from her long-suffering partner Clive, and the details of her final swindle – here’s what Apple Cider Vinegar didn’t show you.
Belle’s African odyssey
In Apple Cider Vinegar, a crisis management expert (played by Phoenix Raei) tells Gibson her reputation has been so badly damaged by her lies that the best way to move forward is to adopt a whole new identity.
In real life, she ended up doing just that – for a time, at least.
After being exposed as a cancer fraudster, she kept a low profile for a few years until she resurfaced in January 2020… as an African activist.
Gibson had joined a group representing the Oromo people of Ethiopia, changed her name, started wearing a headscarf, brushed up on African politics, and even spoke in broken English.
After being exposed as a liar, Gibson kept a low profile for a few years until she resurfaced in January 2020… as an African activist, complete with a dodgy accent and headscarf
She introduced herself as ‘Sabontu’, referred to the East African nation as ‘home’ and, in a worrying development, attempted to raise money for the ethnic group’s home state.
It is not known if Gibson profited from any fundraising.
At the time, Ethiopian community sources revealed Gibson had attended BBQs, weddings and community meetings to ingratiate herself with the Oromo community.
But the president of a major group for the Oromo diaspora in Victoria later confirmed that Gibson was not, in fact, a registered volunteer.
‘We hadn’t been aware of this woman and we do not know her backstory,’ president Tarekegn Chimdi told Daily Mail Australia.
He added that community members had always assumed she was tagging along with a friend.
‘She is not a community member and she’s also not working with the community… She has to stop [telling people she is].’
But despite being iced out of the group, Gibson was spotted still wearing the traditional clothes of the Ethiopian community a year later, in 2021.
‘The Muslim advisor’
Speaking of 2021, that was the year Gibson resurfaced with her strangest disguise yet: a Muslim advisor on a court matter.
Victorian County Court documents emerged in June that year concerning the jailing of a cannabis grower about 18 months earlier.
They showed Gibson had offered the defendant’s wife help at the local mosque.
‘[The wife] received advice from the local mosque from a woman called Belle Gibson, who Your Honour may or may not have heard of,’ defence barrister Philip Dunn QC told the judge during sentencing.
The judge ended up jailing the defendant for 21 days over a charge of cultivating a narcotic plant in a quantity not less than a commercial quantity.
It is not suggested Gibson posed as a lawyer, only provided help with a court matter.
Her final swindle
With the dust settle on her cancer fraud, Belle’s final swindle has been against the Federal Court of Australia.
After a drawn-out and dramatic case, she was ordered by the court in 2017 to pay AU$410,000 (US$257,000) for her false claims of charitable donations. Combined with her legal fees, she must cough up about half a million dollars (US$313,000).
It’s been almost a decade since then and she hasn’t paid the fine, nor has she served any jail time.
Instead, despite her eye-watering debts, she appears to be living a relatively normal life as a suburban single mother in Melbourne.
With the dust settled on her cancer fraud, Belle’s final swindle has been against the Federal Court of Australia after she refused to pay the $410,000 fine handed down by a judge. (Gibson is pictured during her infamous 60 Minutes interview with journalist Tara Brown)
In handing down the fine, the judge described Gibson as having a ‘relentless obsession with herself and what serves her best interests’.
They were prescient remarks. In the years since, despite claiming to be broke and unable to get a job due to her notoriety, Gibson has enjoyed holidays to Bali and Africa.
When she was bounced by Australian tabloid news show A Current Affair last year while at a petrol station, she played the victim once again, telling the reporter: ‘Have some humanity.
‘I haven’t paid things because I can’t afford to. You know I can’t get into the workplace.’
Her finances remain a mystery. During the investigation into her fraud, forensic accountants examining financial documents discovered ‘curious aspects’ in her transactions.
They included cryptocurrency and futures trading – and an account with the online bookmakers Sportsbet.
Daily Mail Australia can confirm Gibson’s mammoth debt remains unpaid.
A spokesperson for Consumer Affairs Victoria said it was ‘continuing to pursue Annabelle Natalie Gibson (also known as Belle Gibson) in order to recover her outstanding debt.
‘The Federal Court of Australia ordered Ms Gibson to pay $410,000 after she was found to engage in unconscionable conduct, in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law.’
Clive’s new love
One of the most baffling figures in the Belle Gibson story is her partner Clive Rothwell, who is portrayed by Ashley Zukerman in Apple Cider Vinegar.
Before, during and after her cancer con, Rothwell helped raise her son from a previous relationship, Oliver, and offered her financial support. He has not been linked to her fraudulent activity, and we do not suggest he is involved.
Despite Gibson claiming she knows little about Rothwell or what he does for a living (he is apparently an IT consultant), he has been described by a friend of Gibson’s as her ‘partner’.
He reportedly paid most of the rent for the home they once shared and even forked out the cash to take Gibson and her son on a month-long trip to Africa in 2019.
One of the most baffling figures in the Belle Gibson story is her partner Clive Rothwell, who is portrayed by Ashley Zukerman in Apple Cider Vinegar
The man who’d been called Gibson’s ‘boyfriend’ and ‘benefactor’ was finally fed up of footing the bill for her by late 2023. Rothwell is pictured with another woman after splitting from Gibson
But, shortly after Netflix announced Apple Cider Vinegar and Kaitlyn Dever flew to Australia to begin filming, it all became too much for Rothwell.
It seems the man who had been labelled everything from ‘boyfriend’ to ‘housemate’ to ‘benefactor’ was finally fed up of footing the bill.
He has since moved into a two-bedroom apartment on the other side of Melbourne and in November 2023 was seen out and about with another woman.
The notoriously private Rothwell declined to comment at the time when asked if the woman was his new partner.
