The story of disgraced Australian wellness influencer and founder of The Whole Pantry, Belle Gibson, is getting the Netflix treatment in new series, Apple Cider Vinegar.
An already dramatic and scandalous ordeal, TV execs surely shouldn’t have to stretch far to make the bingeworthy television.
Per Tudum, the six-episode limited series will serve “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.”
Is Apple Cider Vinegar Based On A True Story?
Apple Cider Vinegar is based on the true story of fraudster Belle Gibson and the lie her wellness business was built on.
For the uninitiated, Gibson claimed she had cured her terminal brain cancer using alternative therapies, specifically dieting and exercise. Not only did she lie about her cancer diagnosis, but also her age and how much she donated to charities.
Her devoted online following led to a cookbook and subsequent app, The Whole Pantry. It was in 2015 during an interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly that Gibson came clean, admitting her claims about having cancer that had been cured by natural remedies were all false.
Two years later, in 2017, she was found guilty of misleading and deceptive behaviour and ordered to pay back over $400,000 in sales from both the cookbook and app.
Who Is Cast In Apple Cider Vinegar
Playing Belle Gibson is Kaitlyn Dever, who you may recognise from Booksmart and Dopesick, and before you ask, no she’s not Australian. She did, however, work with a Melbourne-based dialect coach to nail her accent.
The rest of the Apple Cider Vinegar cast boast a who’s who of local Australian talent including Alycia Debnam-Carey or Fear the Walking Dead, The Bold Type’s Aisha Dee and Tilda Cobham-Hervey.
Where was Apple Cider Vinegar filmed?
The series was filmed in Melbourne, Australia where Belle was originally based. The show’s writer, Samantha Strauss, who is also Australian, revealed to Tudum that she wanted to showcase the beauty of Victoria’s capital city.
“We had so many locations that took us from far-flung parts of Melbourne one day to the Dandenong Ranges the next,” says Strauss. “We wanted to show Melbourne as an aspirational place to be.”
When Will Apple Cider Vinegar Be Released?
Netflix is remaining tight-lipped on a release date for Apple Cider Vinegar, so check back here for updates as we receive them.
Is There A Trailer For The Show?
Netflix has dropped the first look trailer for the limited series, and it is—to no surprise—gripping. In the short 1-minute video, we see a therapist questioning a clearly anxious Belle.
“Do you wanna tell me how this all started?” he asks. Watch the clip below.
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
