Entertainment

Apple Cider Vinegar Fact vs Fiction: Uncovering the True Story

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Netflix is uncovering the tangled web of Belle Gibson’s lies with its new series, Apple Cider Vinegar.

According to the official logline, the show tells a “true-ish story based on a lie, about the rise and fall of a wellness empire; the culture that built it up and the people who tore it down.”

In the 2010s, Gibson rose to fame on social media as a wellness influencer who claimed to treat her terminal brain cancer through means of healthy eating and natural remedies.

She gained a huge following online for her social media posts and wellness app The Whole Pantry, but her lies eventually caught up with her as a local Australian newspaper began to poke holes in her cancer story.

Though the Netflix series modifies a few details about the real story, including changing the names of some of the people involved in the scandal, many of the storylines are based in truth.

Yes, Gibson lied about having cancer and about her real age. While some details have also been changed about her close friend Chanelle, she did play a pivotal role in uncovering her lies.

Read ahead as we break down some of the biggest fact vs. fiction storylines from the series.

Belle Gibson and Kaitlyn Dever as Belle in ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’.

60 Minutes Australia/YouTube; Courtesy of Netflix

Did Belle Gibson really have cancer? No

Kaitlyn Dever as Belle in ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’.

Among Gibson’s many lies, her biggest was that she had terminal brain cancer. The influencer centered her entire brand on the fake diagnosis, claiming that she had been healed through a holistic lifestyle and clean diet.

In 2015, the truth came to light as Australian journalists, Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, poked holes in her claims, notably exposing her for lying about donating profits from her businesses to several charities. In a tell-all interview in April 2015, she admitted to lying about her cancer diagnosis, though she later backpedaled and claimed that it was actually her doctor who was misled about her diagnosis.

“I lived for years with the fear that I was dying,” she said in an interview with Australia’s 60 Minutes. “I wasn’t living in a space where I didn’t know that this was my reality.” Gibson claimed that she was given the diagnosis in 2009 by an immunologist and neurologist who ran a series of tests during a home visit. However, according to 60 Minutes, no record of this doctor exists.

Did Belle Gibson also lie about her age? Yes

In addition to lying about her terminal brain cancer, Gibson also repeatedly lied about her age. When asked point blank about her real age during her 60 Minutes interview, Gibson failed to give a straight answer.

“I’ve always been raised as being currently a 26-year-old,” she told the reporter. When pressed again about her current age, she responded, “I live knowing as I’ve always known that I would be 26.” She claimed that she has two birth certificates and she has had her name changed four times, which she said has led to an identity crisis on her part.

Did Belle Gibson’s family publicly speak against her? Yes

Growing up, Gibson had a contentious relationship with her estranged mother, Natalie Dal-Bello, who later spoke out against her as her crimes were unveiled.

As shown on the series, her mother did a tell-all interview with Women’s Weekly in 2015, telling her side of the story and pleading with her daughter to tell the truth about her childhood as well as her scams.

“I can’t tell you how embarrassed we are about what she has done,” Dal-Bello told the publication. “And we sincerely wish to apologise to anyone who was deceived by Belle. For what small part we played in her life, we would like to say sorry.”

Though he doesn’t appear as a character on the show, Gibson also has a brother who publicly spoke out against her. In addition to disputing some of her claims, including that he had autism, he also reprimanded her crimes.

“The things she’s done to those families, well, technically it’s fraud,” he told the Daily Mail. “I think she should be locked up, spend some time in prison and have a bit of a think about it because I don’t think she realises what she’s done to them.”

Is Belle Gibson a mom? Yes

Ashley Zukerman as Clive, Kaitlyn Dever as Belle in ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’.

Courtesy of Netflix

As shown on the series, Gibson has a son, whom she welcomed in 2010 prior to her relationship with Clive Rothwell. In 2012, Gibson said that she suffered a miscarriage while she was with Rothwell, as reported by Woman’s Weekly.

During a 2015 interview with the Australian publication, the reporter noted that Gibson became “visibly upset when questioned about [her miscarriage]” and refused to “discuss it, other than to tearfully deny allegations it was another false health crisis.”

Gibson has kept her son out of the spotlight, though she did make several mentions of him while appearing in court in 2019, noting that Rothwell paid for their family trip to Africa, as reported by The Age.

Did Belle Gibson have a rival named Milla Blake? No

Alycia Debnam-Carey as Milla in ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’.

Netflix

Though Gibson didn’t come into contact with anyone named Milla Blake, the character is loosely based on Australian wellness entrepreneur Jessica Ainscough, who died of cancer in February 2015.

Like Milla’s character, Ainscough was diagnosed with a rare cancer at a young age and gained a following for her blog The Wellness Warrior, where she shared her journey of using alternative cancer treatments.

The book The Woman Who Fooled the World, which inspired the Netflix series, touches on Gibson and Ainscough’s relationship. According to the book, the two briefly met at a conference outside of Melbourne.

Though the book states that they were not friends, Gibson did attend Ainscough’s funeral in 2015, as reported by Australian publication, the Sydney Morning Herald.

Did Belle Gibson’s book get published? Yes

As shown on the show, the publication of Gibson’s book The Whole Pantry was a huge controversy at the time. The book was initially published in October 2014, but as Gibson’s scams came to light months later, the book’s publisher Penguin Books announced it would be discontinuing the publication and removing it from the shelves in March 2015.

“Despite our best endeavours, Penguin Books has not received sufficient explanation from Ms Gibson, author of The Whole Pantry recipe book, in response to recent allegations. As such, we have been left with no other option but to stop supplying the book in Australia,” Penguin Books said in a statement at the time, per Woman’s Weekly.

The statement came after the publisher admitted that they never fact-checked Gibson’s story or her claims about treating her cancer with a healthy lifestyle, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

Did Belle’s close friend help expose her lie? Yes

Alycia Debnam-Carey as Milla, Aisha Dee as Chanelle in ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’.

Courtesy of Netflix

The character of Chanelle appears to be loosely based on two different people, Ainscough’s manager who is mentioned in the book The Woman Who Fooled the World, as well as Gibson’s close friend, Chanelle McAuliffe.

The latter actually played a pivotal role in exposing Gibson’s lies. As shown on the series, McAuliffe grew suspicious of Gibson and her diagnosis after the influencer had a seizure at her son’s birthday party.

“The party was wrapping up; people were about to leave, and Belle just fell to the ground flat and started convulsing. There was saliva coming out of her mouth. She was having a seizure,” she revealed in the ITV1 documentary, Instagram’s Worst Con Artist. “I said we need to call an ambulance, but as soon as I said that Belle came out of the seizure and said: ‘No, I don’t want Western medicine involved’ because she was healing in herself naturally.”

“When I left the party, I felt sick to my stomach about what I had just seen,” she continued. “This was the point where red flags really started to pop up for me. I was feeling really confused … [and] in my gut, something didn’t feel right.”

She later confronted Gibson about the diagnosis head-on, but when Gibson failed to come clean, McAuliffe went to reporters to uncover the story.

“Finally, a journalist from The Age phoned me. I began telling him everything I knew, the little details that didn’t add up,” she explained. “The journalist began to believe that her charity claims were also fraudulent. They then confirmed with charities that they had not received any donations, so then we knew we had the story, we knew once that broke the rest would unravel.”

Did Clive Rothwell stay with Belle Gibson after her lies were exposed? Yes and no

Ashley Zukerman as Clive Rothwell in ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’.

Courtesy of Netflix

The status of Rothwell and Gibson’s relationship has been a major point of contention since her crimes were brought to light. Though close friends of Gibson have referred to Rothwell as her partner at the time, Gibson later clarified that they were just friends while appearing in court in 2019, as reported by The Age.

However, she did note that Rothwell paid for many of her expenses, from her share of their $600 per-week rent, various living costs and thousands of dollars in legal expenses. He even paid for a $5,000 trip she and her son took to Africa, she said.

Though Rothwell stuck by Gibson’s side amid her legal woes, in November 2023, it was reported that the two had broken up as Rothwell was spotted with another woman, according to photos obtained by Daily Mail.

Did Belle Gibson really fraud a sick child with cancer? Yes

While Gibson’s lies about having cancer were a major part of her public downfall, her fraudulent claims regarding her charitable donations were another major component of her legal woes.

In 2015, two Australian journalists, Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, exposed her for lying about donating profits from her businesses to several charities. Gibson was later found guilty of engaging in misleading and deceptive conduct in 2017, tied to lying about her charitable donations. She was fined more than $400,000 and as of 2021, still owed much of it to the Victorian government.

Similar to the series, Gibson befriended one family whose son had anaplastic astrocytoma grade III. As Gibson’s scams came to light, the family spoke with the Herald Sun, noting that many of Gibson’s claims about her brain cancer were similar to their son Joshua’s story.

“It wasn’t until I started reading all of the recent media reports about Belle that I started to see the similarities,” Joshua’s mother Penne Schwarz told the publication. “We can’t help but think, ‘Did she use us to get in the mind of Joshua?’ ”

The publication added that they were “blindsided by media reports Gibson last year purported to raise funds for Joshua through sales of her health and wellness app, The Whole Pantry,” noting that never even knew about the fundraiser and never received any money from Gibson.

When the family confronted Gibson about the allegations, they say that she failed to give them a straight answer.

“I wanted to believe her story so much but when I messaged her to see if she was okay and ask her about the allegations she would reply but avoided giving any clear answers, or chose to completely avoid my questions,” Penne said.

Entertainment

Daveigh Chase’s mom breaks silence on actress’ death

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Daveigh Chase’s mother, Cathy Chase, revealed her stunned reaction to her daughter’s death in an emotional new interview.

“I was devastated. It felt like something inside of me squeezing all of the air out of me, and at the same time, It felt like I was exploding outwardly,” she told the Daily Mail in comments published on Friday.

She told the outlet that after hearing about her daughter’s death on Tuesday at age 35, she was in disbelief.

“I let out this guttural scream and I just was running,” she recalled. “And these weird sounds were coming out of me, these kind of, like, primeval sounds.”

“And I went out into the backyard, and I was screaming, “No, no, no, no!” I am in so much pain but I hope her soul heard me,” she said.

Cathy told the outlet that on Tuesday evening — the day before news of the “Lilo & Stitch” star’s death emerged — she’d been searching online forums for clues of where her “sunshine” daughter might be, something she’s done on a nightly basis.

“The Ring” actress and her mother had not seen each other since 2019. Cathy, who lives in Los Angeles, told the outlet that she’d frequently check the LA County Medical Examiner’s system for her daughter’s name, as well.

“I would look at their list of unidentified bodies,” Cathy divulged. “It was very difficult, but you do everything you can as a mother.”

When TMZ broke the news that the “Spirited Away” voice actress — who had reportedly been living near Los Angeles’ infamous Skid Row — had died after battling meningitis and a blood infection leading to sepsis, Cathy confessed she thought it was “fake news.”

“But then all of a sudden, it’s all of these different legitimate sites had her name and I realized that it wasn’t fake,” she shared.

The grieving mother identified her daughter’s body on Thursday at a Los Angeles hospital, and prayed with a chaplain while “touching the glass” because it was “as close as we could get.”

“It was a beautiful experience, and, and I feel very blessed, too, have been able to share that with my daughter.”

Cathy told the outlet that her daughter’s problems began in 2016, when she was injured in a motorcycle accident and began taking painkillers.

After that, Cathy said the “Big Love” actress was “seeking drugs and was partying with the wrong people,” and said despite rumors, she “never kicked [her] daughter out.”

“She wanted freedom and these people got her hooked on some drugs,” Cathy claimed. “That was the beginning.”

Cathy said she’d last seen her daughter during a jail visit after she faced two counts of alleged burglary in 2019, describing Daveigh as “completely gone, like out of her mind.”

“I honestly thought there was something wrong with her,” she recalled. “My daughter was never diagnosed with mental health other than PTSD. But the drugs took hold of her.”

Cathy claimed she had an agreement to pick up Daveigh when she was released from jail, but her daughter “never waited. She went back to the streets and I couldn’t find her,” she said.

The bereaved mom said it “upsets”. her that “people are saying I must’ve been a bad mother,” but insisted she “never gave up” on the “Donnie Darko” actress.

“As a mother, you don’t give up on your child. I was hoping she would still come home,” she said.

Just prior to her death — which was first reported by TMZ — Roy Hernandez, a man claiming to be Daveigh’s boyfriend, set up a fundraiser for the actress.

But the actress’s former manager, John Ryan, cast doubt on the fundraiser’s legitimacy, telling The Post on Wednesday that “apparently, a man claiming to be her ‘boyfriend’ that none of us friends or her family has heard of has set up a GoFundMe on ‘her and her families behalf’ that he set her up as the organizer.”

He added, “I can confirm Daveigh has a trust account set up at SAG to cover all costs.” Hernandez, meanwhile, insisted to TMZ that anything gained from his fundraiser would go toward a “proper memorial” for Daveigh.

Ryan — who also said he’d attempted to locate the troubled actress prior to her hospitalization for malnutrition and subsequent death — also claimed the actress left behind millions in residuals.

Ryan told the outlet that Daveigh was “too far gone” on illicit drugs to claim the funds, despite his attempts to get in touch.

Almost ten years prior to her death, Daveigh shared her final Instagram post — a grainy photo of her standing next to a unicorn balloon in Los Angeles in 2017.

In 2009, she shared with Interview magazine that she hoped to “do things that will change someone’s life, not something they’ll forget about tomorrow.”

Entertainment

Hit 90s movie franchise returns after 24 years, star confirms

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A hit film from the 90s and noughties is about to get revived after 24 years.

Austin Powers, the comedy spy franchise that has given us three flicks, plenty of big belly laughs, and memorable characters, is finally getting a fourth installment.

The news was confirmed by star and creator Mike Myers (who plays the lead Austin Powers), who offered up the confirmation of another sequel, but with no further details.

While attending Trevor Noah’s World Cup Watch Party this week, the actor was asked the big question by a bold fan.

“Are we ever going to see an Austin Powers 4?” they quizzed.

Myers didn’t need any time at all to respond, swiftly replying: “yes” to the fan.

But that’s all the details fans are getting for now, with the actor avoiding elaborating any more – including what the new flick will be about and which A-listers might be signing up as a cameo.

“Austin Powers” is a much-loved spoof of classic spy movies centring on a highly-sexed, cryogenically frozen 1960s secret agent who wakes up in modern times.

We were first introduced to the franchise in 1997 with the release of “Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery.” Two years later, in 1999, Myers returned with “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” and in 2002, we were given “Austin Powers in Goldmember.”

In the trilogy, comedy mastermind Myers famously plays multiple roles, including the velvet-suited hero and his bald, pinky-biting nemesis, Dr. Evil. He also transforms into characters Goldmember and Fat Bastard.

The hilarious franchise boasts wild A-list cameos, including appearances by Tom Cruise, Gwyneth Paltrow, Britney Spears, and Beyoncé.

Over at the box office, the three films have raked in an impressive $US 676 million combined and have snagged over 20 awards, including an Oscar nomination for best make-up as well as a Grammy win for Madonna’s title track for Beautiful Stranger – a song penned for the second film in the franchise.

The news of a fourth film comes 24 years after the third flick hit cinemas.

Since its release, Myers has been hinting that the secret agent may return.

Most recently, speaking to Entertainment Tonight at the 2024 AFI Life Achievement Award Gala, Myers dropped his biggest hint.

“I can neither confirm nor deny the existence or non-existence of such a project… It’s likely to be from Dr. Evil’s point of view,” he teased.

Entertainment

Bunnie Xo reveals the fight that led to Jelly Roll divorce filing in bombshell tell-all video

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Bunnie Xo finally addressed her bombshell divorce from Jelly Roll after 10 years of marriage.

“J and I have never really been good at having disagreements. So, we were the type of couple who never argued. So, he would be holding things in. I would be holding things in, and that’s a recipe for disaster,” Bunnie said on Thursday’s episode of her “Dumb Blonde” podcast.

“We always preach you gotta be comfortable having the uncomfortable conversations, and we did that for eight years in. Then the past year and a half, we kind of got away from that because, we’re in a different life right now.”

Bunnie continued, recalling their final argument that went down on Mother’s Day where she told him to “file the f–king divorce papers.”

“On Mother’s Day, we had a little bit of an argument, which I don’t think the details are necessary. And, in that argument, I was so fed up and so tired that I just looked at him and said, ‘Well, then file the f–king divorce papers,’” she said.

“In our relationship, that is the one cardinal thing that you don’t say, even though my husband has said it numerous times,” she noted. “But, when I say it, it really holds weight because I’m not the type of person who says what I don’t mean.”

The conversation ended with Bunnie packing a bag and leaving the Grammy winner, she said.

The “Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic” host added that their IVF journey had also taken a toll on their marriage.

“In the last two years when we decided to have a baby, I had to do IVF. My hat goes off to any woman, family, couple who is going through IVF because let me tell you something dude that is one of the loneliest, darkest journeys you will be on,” she said, noting that process “completely wrecked” her.

“Yes, everybody gets to see the reward at the end, but it is not all bells and whistles. It is not a beautiful journey,” Bunnie continued. “It wrecked me emotionally, spiritually, physically. It was so hard on me that for the past year and a half, I became a shell of the person I was because I’m doing this IVF journey. I’m fighting hard just to you know be able to produce enough eggs to make a baby with my husband, especially at my age.”

The process became more difficult as she revealed that Jelly Roll “had low sperm count” so “he had to get on a bunch of hormones and a whole bunch of medication which turned him into a freaking nightmare to be around.”

Bunnie continued, revealing that the couple has “lost four embryos” throughout their experience.

“We’ve had three transfers but we lost the the two twins that we were going to try to have and then we lost the other two. And anybody that’s going through that and has to deal with these miscarriages, it’s gut-wrenching. It is so heartbreaking,” she confessed.

On Monday, news broke that Jelly Roll, 41, quietly pulled the plug on his and Bunnie Xo’s marriage on May 18, citing “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for their split, Page Six confirmed.

The country singer filed for divorce in Williamson County, Tennessee, where he and the “Dumb Blonde” podcast host, 46, lived together.

The exes agreed to divide their assets and debts.

Movers were photographed outside of the estranged couple’s Tennessee home on Monday, though it’s unclear whose items were being packed up.

The “Wild Ones” crooner, born Jason Bradley DeFord, hinted at trouble in paradise when he opted out of wearing his wedding ring while performing at the 2026 CMA Fest in Nashville earlier this month.

Eagle-eyed fans on social media also noticed that he has ditched his ring since around February or March.

As for Bunnie, born Alisa DeFord, she compared exes to trash cans in a cheeky video of herself wearing a revenge outfit, captioning it, “Intuition when that s–t don’t add up.”

Additionally, the internet personality shared a photo of herself posing in lingerie shortly before news of their split broke.

Jelly Roll and Bunnie tied the knot in Las Vegas in 2016, but they briefly split in 2018.

They later reconciled and renewed their vows in 2023.

The “Somebody Save Me” singer has previously admitted to having cheated on his estranged wife ahead of getting sober from hard drugs.