Netflix viewers are counting down to watch an upcoming ‘true-ish’ story about a wellness influencer who faked cancer (Picture: Netflix)
Netflix viewers are eagerly awaiting the release of a drama series based on the shocking true story of a wellness influencer who lied about having cancer.
The six-part series Apple Cider Vinegar will hit screens next month and has been described as a ‘true-ish story based on a lie’.
It stars Kaitlyn Dever (Unbelievable, Booksmart) as Belle Gibson, an Australian wellness influencer who claims she was able to cure her terminal brain cancer through health and wellness.
Sharing her extraordinary story with a growing online following, she develops an app and companion cookbook, making millions from her audience, many of whom are battling cancer themselves.
But as it turns out, she is a complete fraud. Instead, Belle has never been diagnosed with cancer.
The upcoming series was inspired by the staggering actions of the real-life Gibson, who was eventually convicted of engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct and fined $410,000 (£211,000) for breaching consumer laws.
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Apple Cider Vinegar stars Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson (Picture: Netflix)
Her actions were described as ‘particularly predatory’ as well as being ‘deceit on a grand scale’.
This week the full trailer for Apple Cider Vinegar was released and shows how Belle becomes obsessed with another wellness influencer (who actually has cancer) and seeks similar public adoration.
However, although her social media profiles take off, it all begins to unravel when people start to question her cancer claims and become concerned she ‘could be killing people with her lies’.
She fakes cancer in her quest to build an online following (Picture: Netflix)
After watching the trailer, many said they couldn’t wait to watch the series.
‘Apple Cider Vinegar sounds like a wild ride! Can’t wait for February 6,’ user crazeofpen posted on X.
‘Wild premise…may have to check it out,’ punkrockcoach shared.
‘This looks like a wild ride, can’t wait to see what happens,’ Amy added.
It also follows the impact of her actions on actual cancer patients (Picture: Netflix)
Gibson was convicted of engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct (Picture: Nine)
Meanwhile Diandra wrote: ‘I looooove this sinister influencer stuff. Give it to me!’
Apple Cider Vinegar also stars Alycia Debnam-Carey as Milla Blake, Belle’s competitor, Aisha Dee as Milla’s close friend Chanelle, who meets Belle at an event and begins working with her on her growing business and Tilda Cobham-Hervey as Lucy, a woman struggling with cancer who is drawn in by both influencer’s pull.
Many others declared the series could be ‘the next Inventing Anna’, referencing the 2022 Netflix series about fraudster socialite Anna Sorokin.
Created by writer Samantha Strauss (Nine Perfect Strangers) it’s been teased the series ‘serves as a cultural interrogation of the times, exploring the birth of Instagram; the allure and rise of wellness culture; peak girl boss start-up culture; and the age of innocence on social media with very few checks and balances in place’.
Apple Cider Vinegar is streaming on Netflix from February 6.
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