Earlier this month, Netflix released its latest drama series Apple Cider Vinegar, a dramatised and fictionalised retelling of cancer faker Belle Gibson‘s rise to fame and her catastrophic descent.
While it’s a story many Australians remember, internationally the series has brought a lot of attention back to Gibson the impact her fraudulent ways had on charities, vulnerable people and society.
Now, the whistleblower who brought attention to Belle’s lies and is depicted in the series has shared her take on the ethics surrounding the show and confirmed that she had nothing to do with the series’ creation.
In case you haven’t seen it, in Apple Cider Vinegar, we meet a woman named Chanelle, played by Aisha Dee, who is positioned as Belle’s manager and a friend of another influencer who has cancer named Milla Blake (Alycia Debnam-Carey).
On the show — and in real life — it’s Chanelle who clocks that Belle is faking and brings the rising scandal to the attention of the two journalists who broke the story.
In reality, Chanelle — whose full name is Chanelle McAuliffe — has some big differences to her character. She never had any connection with Jessica Ainscough, the woman believed to have inspired the character of Milla Blake, nor did she act as Belle’s manager. Instead, they were just good friends who met at the launch of Belle’s app The Whole Pantry.
Now, Chanelle has taken to TikTok to share her perspective on the fictionalised nature of the series.
“I wanted to say thank you to everyone who sent kind messages and support after watching the Netflix show or learning about the story,” she began.
“I also wanted to say that I had nothing to do with the Netflix show and I don’t entirely feel comfortable around some of the ethics of this type of storytelling and how the truth has been distorted in the show.”
Chanelle said that she hopes the “core important messages” about the story aren’t lost “through the glamorisation of this show”.
“Just remember there have been really vulnerable people in real life who have been impacted by this,” she concluded.
It’s not the first time Chanelle has spoken publicly about what really happened. Over the years, she has given multiple interviews and even shared her story in a 2023 documentary entitled The Search For Instagram’s Worst Con Artist.
So, while we can enjoy the storytelling, drama and self-aware nature of Apple Cider Vinegar, let’s be mindful that beyond the entertainment are real, vulnerable people whose lives were turned upside down by false hope, promises and lies.
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