Few stories have shocked us like Belle Gibson's. The Australian wellness guru built an empire by telling her followers she was curing terminal brain cancer with an all-natural diet. The twist? None of it was true. Now, her incredible rise and fall is receiving the silver-screen treatment in Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar, with none other than Kaitlyn Dever and Alycia Debnam-Carey at the helm. Curious? Everything you need to know — including your first-look at the trailer for the Netflix series — below.

Watch the first trailer for Apple Cider Vinegar 

What is the true story behind Apple Cider Vinegar?

For those who somehow missed the cultural moment, Belle Gibson was an Australian wellness influencer who earned a following after posting about her brain cancer diagnosis and, more importantly, that she was curing it through an all-natural diet and lifestyle. Her popularity skyrocketed in 2013, when Instagram and social media influencing as a career were both in their infancy. Her now-deleted Instagram account told the story of how Gibson was defying medical expectations, leading a healthy and prosperous life four years after she was supposedly told she only had four months to live. Her secret? Forgoing conventional medicine, and using whole foods and alternative therapies to treat her disease.

Eventually, Gibson's success got so big that she developed her own app, The Whole Pantry: a place to house all the recipes that were supposedly behind her good health. The Whole Pantry quickly became one of the best-selling apps in the country, with Apple even planning to launch the Apple Watch in Australia with the app pre-installed.  And, rather than pocketing the profits, Gibson promised to donate all proceeds to related cancer organisations. However, mere months before the Apple Watch was set to launch Down Under, everything unravelled. Nothing about Gibson's story, it turned out, was true.

How was Belle Gibson found out?

The first red flags around Gibson's story came when two Australian journalists uncovered that she had been falsifying charitable donations. Per the Sydney Morning Herald, Belle had claimed to have given away 25% of her company’s profits, but no donations were ever made.

This lead to more journalists probing Gibson's story, and claims around her cancer diagnosis began to unravel. In 2015, she sat down for an interview with The Australian Women's Weekly where she was asked outright if she had ever had cancer, to which Gibson admitted, "No. None of it's true."

What happened to Belle Gibson?

Naturally, public outrage was swift. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) took legal action against Gibson and The Whole Pantry, and Gibson was found guilty by the Australian Federal Court of violating five counts of consumer law. She was fined $410,000 which, according to News.com.au, is yet to be paid.

As for where she is now, The ABC reported in 2020 that Gibson was living in Melbourne, and had been "adopted" by the city's Ethiopian community.

How much of Apple Cider Vinegar is true?

According to Netflix, "the series has its foundations in truth, but it is a work of fiction."

Kaitlin Dever plays Gibson, while Alycia Debnam-Carey plays Milla, another woman who sets out alongside Belle to cure her life-threatening illnesses through health and wellness.

When does Apple Cider Vinegar come out?

Netflix is yet to share an official release date — we'll keep you updated as soon as we know more.

Feature image via Netflix.