Cancer-stricken footy WAG Kellie Finlayson hits back at 'disgusting' comparisons to notorious fraudster Belle Gibson

Daily Mail​

29-04-2025

Kellie Finlayson has hit back at nasty trolls who claim that she is lying about her cancer diagnosis.
The AFL WAG, 29, who is married to Port Adelaide forward Jeremy Finlayson, is battling terminal bowel cancer after being diagnosed when she was just 25 years old.
On Tuesday morning, Kellie appeared on the Today show to promote her new book, There Must Be More, which documents her ongoing heath battle.
The topic soon turned to online trolls who had recently suggested that Kellie was lying about her diagnosis, comparing her to notorious 'cancer faker' Belle Gibson.
Belle, who is the subject of the recent Netflix series Apple Cider Vinegar, built a social media empire following the untrue claims she had cured cancer through alternative medicines and special diets.
'What do you say, Kellie, I know you revealed earlier those ugly comparisons to con woman Bell Gibson, and that's just disgusting and heartless,' co-host Sarah Abo began.
'I don't know where this comes from, that people feel that they can say these things to you.'
Kellie, who shares six-year-old daughter Sophia with husband Jeremy, replied that the majority of interactions on social media have been positive, however, the minority still have an affect.
'Don't get me wrong, 90 per cent of the people who reach out are very positive and tell me that I've inspired them or that they've gotten checked because of me,' Kellie said.
'But those 10 per cent that decide that it's their time to tell me that maybe I might have comparisons to someone that is lying about a diagnosis purely out of the way that I look and I guess the way that I've gone about it, rather than being inspired by that they've decided that it can't be real.'
Sarah doubled down on her earlier comment, adding that the comments were 'shocking', while co-host Karl Stefanovic had his own words of advice for the cruel trolls.
'They can go jump,' he succinctly stated.
It comes as Kellie recently took to social media to slam the comparisons as 'offensive' and a 'big punch in the face'.
'I have this depth of hate towards her [Gibson] and I don't hate anyone,' Finlayson said in a video published on Instagram in February
'But the way it irks me and I know she irks so many others... I've been referred to by this woman's name countless times, several times a week even.
'Which is just... it's just a big punch to the face. It's kicking me while I'm down.'
Finlayson added: 'Having these docos and this Netflix series come out about all the of the hurt she caused, all of the lies she told.
'And then being referred to her as her name simply because I've sought alternate therapies, or I look really well - but being called this woman's name is offensive, it's abusive almost.
'Having gone through the things that she described, or pretended to have gone through, and the way she manipulated people around her to empathise and to give her so much; it makes me physically ill.'
Kellie was first diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2021 and revealed in 2022 that the illness had spread to her lungs.
After posting a hopeful update on social media in 2023 she stated that she would be stopping chemotherapy, but last July, she revealed to followers on social media that the cancer had begun to grow again and would be undergoing further chemotherapy treatment.
Kellie delivered an update on her cancer battle having undergone surgery in recent weeks.
She revealed on Instagram, in March, that she had undergone thoracic surgery but appeared to be recovering well.
The young mum published a clip of herself lying in a hospital bed, writing: 'Me a week ago'.
In the next frame, Finlayson looked bright and well, sharing a brief clip of two scars on the left side of her rib cage following the surgery.
'Just over a week ago I was having a VATS wedge resection on my right lung to remove Mets and send off tissue to pathology in hope for more answers/better treatment plans,' Kellie captioned the video.
'I've had soooo many people checking in to see how I'm doing, thank you!!!
'And honestly, I'm so fine. Which I know is incredible given the major surgery I've just undergone and I know not everyone is as lucky. But hey, I'll take the wins when I can get them in this never-ending experience.'
discovered she never had the disease.