Kriti Mehrotra
As a drama pulling back the curtain on the way a self-proclaimed wellness influencer took over the world by storm before falling from grace, Netflix’s ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’ is unlike any other. That’s because this six-part original carefully underscores how Annabelle “Belle” Gibson claimed to have healed her cancer in an organic manner to advocate for similar practices on various levels. Amongst those to thus play a crucial role in her story was none other than her friend Chanelle, especially since she brought to light the fact that the former was never really ill in the first place.
Chanelle is Partly Inspired By a Real Life Friend of Belle Gibson’s
While Chanelle of the Jeffrey Walker directorial is portrayed as a fierce and strong-minded individual who once served as Belle’s manager, her real-life counterpart was just the influencer’s friend. According to ‘The Woman Who Fooled the World’ by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, Chanelle McAuliffe is indeed a force to be reckoned with, but the show did take some creative liberties. First things first, she is actually petite as well as blonde-haired, and second, while she was aware of Jess Ainscough (depicted as Milla Blake), they weren’t friends in any capacity whatsoever.
As the daughter of a woman who serves cancer charities and a man who dedicates himself to being a detective, Chanelle knew early on she wished to follow a path that would make her parents proud. Therefore, upon graduating high school, the youngster decided to enroll at Deakin University before ultimately transferring to The London School of Economics for a degree in Public Policy Analysis. She had kickstarted her career in this field back in 2007 itself, but it was only after graduation that she was able to transform into a full-fledged banking analyst for some of the biggest companies.
Chanelle actually served as a Hedge Fund Analyst at TT International in London, England, for six months before evolving into a Derivatives Project Analyst at BNY Mellon for 8 months until 2013. It was at this point that she realized corporate jobs were not for her, driving her to quickly move back to her homeland for good and begin dabbling in various industries to find her one true calling. That’s how she met Belle in December 2013 — she was writing for a local magazine at the time and was hoping to interview her after hearing her moving speech at her brand, The Whole Pantry’s launch.
Chanelle Did Confront Belle Upon Getting Suspicious About Her Health
As per the aforementioned 2017 book, Chenelle and Belle became great friends not long after they first came across one other, resulting in the former even helping her out at work from time to time. Hence, she knew quite a bit about the alternative therapies people were trying in an attempt to heal their deadly ailments, inadvertently ending up encouraging one of her mother’s friends too. She was already looking into them following months of conventional treatment for her cancer, according to the book, so the young Melbourne resident didn’t shy away from boasting about Belle.
Unfortunately, though, a few months later, Chanelle’s mother’s friend sadly passed away, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she, as well as her beliefs owing to Belle, were partly to blame. Then, as she witnessed her own friend’s alleged seizure during her son’s 4th birthday party, she knew something was terribly wrong and suddenly realized she had never actually seen her sick before. So, in the spring of 2014, she, as well as a mutual friend, decided to confront Belle regarding her claims of having malignant brain cancer, which she had recently said had spread all across her body.
The primary emotion Chanelle felt that evening was frustration since Belle refused to provide any backing to her assertions and even said she would only go to a doctor once she didn’t feel so pressured. It was then that she confronted her friend’s long-term partner, Clive Rothwell, who said, “She is not sick… and she will destroy anyone that exposes her,” per the book, but Belle still stuck to her story.
That’s when Chanelle decided she needed to come forward with the truth because it wasn’t just a lie or make-believe; other people’s lives were in genuine danger because they were following Belle. She initially called the authorities, yet they said their hands were tied owing to a lack of evidence, leaving her no choice but to go to the media, who did end up publishing an expose in early 2015.
Chanelle McAuliffe is an Incredibly Successful Entrepreneur
Once Chanelle knew the truth about Belle, she did everything in her power to ensure it was brought to light too, which is a decision she is proud of to this day because no others were harmed. Coming to her current personal as well as professional standing, she has since preferred to keep well away from the limelight owing to prying eyes and seems resolved to focus on just her career.
Hence, we are happy to report that Chanelle is now an incredibly successful entrepreneur and investor. She served as a Financial Counsellor in the Lutheran Community from 2018 to 2020, following which she evolved into a Policy & Systemic Issues Analyst at MoneyMob Talkabout Limited until 2021. The 33-year-old Melbourne resident subsequently worked as a Financial Counsellor at the University of South Australia for a year, only to later spread her wings in a way like never before. She became the Founder-in-Residence of Antler in 2022, was the Director at Avert from 2022 to 2023, held the title of Investment Lead at PAN Group for seven months in 2023, and now, she serves as an Advisor at First Australians Capital.
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