Chilling story of worst ever social media con woman but fans have just days to watch
The story of Belle Gibson, a so-called Australian 'wellness influencer', has led to multiple documentaries and closer looks into her claim to fame and its eventual debunking.
Belle rose to prominence back in 2013 after blogging about her 'battle with cancer' and alleging she had beaten brain cancer using nutrition, eating a plant-based diet, and employing alternative therapies — a claim that was later declared false when it was revealed she never had cancer in the first place.
She launched her Instagram page in that same year, quickly amassing over 200,000 followers, a feat that was considered particularly impressive considering Instagram was a relatively new social media platform at the time.
Belle went on to launch The Whole Pantry app, described by the Australian media as 'the world's first health, wellness and lifestyle app'. With over 200,000 downloads in its first month, it seemed there was no looking back for Belle Gibson and her flourishing career as a wellness guru. The app and its spin-off cookbook resulted in sales worth over $500,000 Australian dollars (£252,000), from which Belle promised to donate a sizable chunk of her profits to multiple charities.
Reaching the apex of her fame in 2014 the influencer's wellness empire came swiftly tumbling down in April 2015 when reporters uncovered Belle had falsified the figures of how much money she had given to charity, leading to further investigations which ultimately uncovered inconsistencies in her story and diagnosis, including her alleged medical records and crucial details of her 'illness'.
Exposed by journalists as a fraud, Belle confessed, "No, none of it's true," in a 2015 interview with Women's Weekly, instead placing blame on a dodgy doctor named 'Mark Johns', whose victim she claimed to be. In 2017, the influencer was fined AUD 410,000 for misleading readers, followed by a home raid by authorities in 2021 after her dues remained unpaid.
Belle Gibson's meteoric rise to fame (and subsequent downfall) sparked significant public interest, inspiring multiple adaptations of her story for the screen. Apart from Netflix's six-episode, 2025 drama series Apple Cider Vinegar, Belle's story also prompted the 2021 BBC documentary, Bad Influencer: The Great Insta Con, which premiered on BBC Three.
Currently available to stream for free on BBC iPlayer, Bad Influencer: The Great Insta Con will leave the streaming service on Friday, June 20. Directed and produced by Ziyaad Desai, the 45 minute documentary takes a closer look at the life of Belle Gibson and is depicted through the eyes of those who loved her — and those who exposed her.
The documentary enlists former fans of the influencer — who had believed her extraordinary story and been greatly inspired by it — to share the impact Belle had on their lives. The BBC documentary's synopsis reads: "Seen through the eyes of those who adored her and those who exposed her, this film lifts the lid on one of social media's great mysteries: who was the real Belle Gibson – an ingenious con artist or damaged young woman trapped in a lie?"
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