Belle Gibson: Where is the Scammer Now?

With Netflix’s ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’ being an Australian drama that explores the way a self-proclaimed wellness guru fell from grace, we get an insight into the story of Belle Gibson. After all, it explores every aspect of her personal as well as professional experiences, all the while shining a light on how her lies about the former propelled the latter in a way no one could ever imagine. We say this because it has been determined that she lied about having cancer for years, all throughout which she was pushing pseudoscience to people who were truly ill.

Belle Gibson’s Troubles Allegedly Began Early On in Life

Annabelle “Belle” Natalie Gibson was born in Launceston in Tasmania, Australia, on October 8, 1991, but primarily grow up in Brisbane. As the show depicts, she did leave home at the age of 12, but moved in with a classmate before eventually finding herself crashing with a family friend. Nevertheless, she continued attending Wynnum State High School in Manly, Queensland, until dropping out in Year 10. She later claimed she was homeschooled and had a brother with autism who took up most of their mother’s time; the latter claim was later denied.

Belle actually claimed her mother was deceitful and neglectful in her upbringing to such an extent she was left to take care of herself and her sibling when she was five, but these have since been denied. In the show, too, while there is no mention of the brother, she does allege she felt left out at every turn, adding that whether she did anything good or bad, it reportedly didn’t matter. Therefore, by the time she was a preteen, Belle said she had had enough and wanted to be independent and free, so she moved away.

Belle Gibson’s Health Claims Go as Far Back as 2010

According to Belle Gibson’s now-deleted social media platforms, she relocated to Perth in late 2008 and Melbourne in 2010, where she became a mother at the tender age of 18. It was reportedly around this time that she first began claiming she was facing some health issues, as profiled in the show, which eventually led to her claiming she had been diagnosed with malignant brain cancer. She never once gave details of her diagnosis, doctors, or the hospital where she received treatment, but she did say she underwent chemotherapy for a while.

However, per Belle’s claims, radiation didn’t help much, driving her to pursue a more natural path toward healing via diet, exercise, natural medicine, and alternative medicine therapies. She soon began referring to herself as a philanthropist and launched The Whole Pantry as a way to help others via her methods, too, which included promoting controversial or potentially dangerous alternative medical practices like Gerson therapy and anti-vaccination. It was in 2013 that she established her business, and it was registered by her partner.

Belle was running a blog under the same name and had The Whole Life brand too, through which she later made other claims. In her 2014 book ‘The Whole Pantry,’ it was stated that she had been stable for two years with no growth of her cancer, but this was inconsistent with her statements. In the months prior, she had mentioned on her since-deleted Facebook page and to media outlets that her cancer had spread to her brain, blood, liver, kidneys, spleen, and uterus. However, she said she was working through it because she believed her mission in life was to help others.

Belle Gibson Allegedly Lied About Charity Work Too

As Belle was gaining traction as a wellness guru, she seemingly started working with various charitable organizations that aligned with her work and mission in life. These included medical support for children with cancer, maternal healthcare in developing countries, funding of schools in third-world countries, and much more. In fact, by 2014, she claimed she was working with 20 different charities while also helping a young boy with brain cancer fundraise for a possibly life-saving operation.

However, by the time 2015 rolled around, it had come to light that Belle had grossly overstated her charitable contributions, and the young boy’s family also came forward to assert they didn’t even know she had fundraised for them. As per an ensuing investigation for fraud, while Belle claimed she had donated approximately $300k to charities under her brand’s name, the total sum was only around $7,000. Furthermore, the young boy’s family also never received any funds from her or The Whole Pantry for his treatments.

Additionally, it turns out that a large sum had been donated by Belle’s partner, not herself or her brand. She did try to deny the allegations against her when they first came out, going as far as to assert that there were some admin issues and delays in the contributions, but things didn’t pan out for her. It was this that raised scrutiny over her entire brand and raised questions about whether she was even unwell or not, especially owing to her inconsistent statements and lack of proof. However, Belle denied everything, even going as far as to delete comments raising questions online, that is, until she finally decided to concede to her lies in the spring of 2015 (April).

Following Legal Action Against Her, Belle Gibson Has Remained Away From the Limelight

Once the controversy broke out and Belle’s decision to remove comments raised further backlash, she decided to erase her entire story. Whether it be Instagram posts, Facebook shares, and blogs about her cancer and how it spread or her claims of having had heart surgery in the past, wherein she died for a while, were all erased. Yet, it only raised further suspicion, leaving her no choice but to admit to her actions. She did so in an exclusive interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly magazine in April 2015, in which she admitted she had concocted all her medical diagnoses. Nevertheless, Belle still tried to deflect responsibility by stating it was owing to the neglect she faced while growing up, which further resulted in her being received negatively.

The fact her estranged mother, Natalie Dal-Bello, later refuted several of her claims didn’t work out in her favor either, and it all culminated in there being legal action against her. In March 2017, the Federal Court of Australia ascertained that Belle had indeed been dishonest and used her platforms to scam people, as a result of which she was ordered to pay a $410,000 fine. Per the courts, she “had no reasonable basis to believe she had cancer” at any given point, so she was not acting out of delusion or paranoia, making her responsible for her actions. Since then, Belle has kept well away from the public eye and has chosen not to return online in any public capacity, making it difficult for us to even presume what she might be up to these days.

Many believe Belle has since relocated to the US, but it hasn’t been confirmed or denied as of writing. In 2020, she did appear to have indicated that she had been adopted by the Ethiopian community in Melbourne after volunteering for four years, but the Australian Oromo Community Association’s President made it clear she was not a registered volunteer. So, all we know is that she was based in Australia until at least 2021 because her house in Northcote, Victoria, was raided twice — once in January 2020 and the second time in May 2021 — to recoup her unpaid fines. She herself never made any payments for her fines, so the officials were left with no choice but to raid her home.

Read More: Natalie Dal-Bello: What Happened to Belle Gibson’s Mother?