Apple Cider Vinegar airs on Netflix on February 6 and the limited series tells the unbelievable story of wellness guru Belle Gibson. She fooled the world into thinking she had brain cancer and used her social media platforms as a way of inspiring others to find a holistic cure for their conditions. In the early days of social media, when Instagram was just starting to take off, Belle (played by Kaitlyn Dever) abused the trust of her huge online following. The real Annabelle Natalie Gibson, 33, is a convicted scammer from Australia who created The Whole Pantry mobile app and its companion cookbook.

She falsely claimed to have been diagnosed with a number of cancers, including a malignant brain cancer for which she was given weeks to live. She claimed she was effectively managing them through diet, natural medicine and alternative medicine therapies. She also alleged to have donated huge amounts of her company's profits to charities, but this was never the case. It was in 2015 that she was finally accused of fraudulent claims regarding her charitable donations, and it was not until after this that she was finally exposed for lying about her cancer, her personal life and even her age.

Her luxurious lifestyle was because of the money she claimed had been donated to charity. As the truth started to emerge and her social media support base started to turn its back on her, she admitted in an April 2015 interview her cancer diagnosis had been fabricated. In 2016, Consumer Affairs Victoria announced legal action against Belle and in 2017, the Federal Court of Australia said she had no reasonable basis to believe she had cancer.

Belle, who was born in Tasmania, claimed to have left her family home when she was just 12 years old. She became a mother aged 18 and three years later, aged 21, she launched The Whole Pantry mobile app. In its first month, the app was reportedly downloaded 200,000 times and it was voted Apple's Best Food and Drink App of 2013. Soon after, she signed a book deal and released a cookbook. By 2015 it was estimated more than $1 million had been made in sales of The Whole Pantry app and book.

Doubts about the legitimacy of her operation came to the surface after she failed to donate a promised $300,000 to charity. She had already registered the domain The Whole Life with hopes of expanding the brand portfolio. Both The Whole Pantry app and The Whole Life were registered by her partner, Clive Rothwell, in her corporate name. Once she had been accused of lying, The Whole Pantry began removing any comments made on its Facebook page that doubted Belle's claims.

In September 2017, she was fined $410,000 for making false claims about her donations to charity but as of April 2019, she had not paid the fine. In January 2020 and May 2021, the Sheriff's Office of Victoria raided her home in Northcote and seized items to recoup the unpaid fines, which by that point exceeded half a million dollars. The trailer for the series attracted a huge amount of attention and subscribers have already taken to Reddit to share their thoughts.

One fan said: "Kaityln Dever + limited series based on a true story? Hell yes. Unbelievable and Dopesick were soo good, hope this one doesn't disappoint either.". Daniiiii replied: "Also it is just a coincidence but both series have such apt and on point names. Dopesick speaks for itself and here Apple Cider Vinegar is just genius, it is literally the first thing you will get told online to drink, bathe in, snort, cook with, use as eye drops, boil the clothes in, cleanse the baby with, just simply everything.".