Cancer-stricken AFL WAG Kellie Finlayson speaks out after trolls made baseless comparisons to conwoman Belle Gibson
Kellie Finlayson has opened up about the impact of vicious online trolls who have made baseless claims she is lying about her cancer diagnosis, including comparisons to notorious cancer conwoman Belle Gibson.
The AFL WAG, 29, who is married to Port Adelaide forward Jeremy Finlayson, is battling stage 4 bowel cancer after being diagnosed when she was just 25 years old.
Finlayson's shocking diagnosis came four years after she started experiencing stomach issues, including irregular bowel movements, and at times, blood in her stool.
On Tuesday morning, Finlayson appeared on Nine's Today show to promote her new book, There Must Be More, which documents her ongoing cancer battle.
At one point, co-host Sarah Abo brought up online trolls who have questioned the mother-of-one's cancer diagnosis, including hurtful comparisons to cancer conwoman Belle Gibson.
'What do you say, Kellie, I know you revealed earlier those ugly comparisons to conwoman Belle Gibson, and that's just disgusting and heartless,' Abo said.
'I don't know where this comes from, that people feel that they can say these things to you.'
'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.'
The update comes months after Finlayson revealed the 'depth of hate' she felt towards Gibson after the release of the Netflix series Apple Cider Vinegar about the notorious case.
Gibson falsely claimed to have beaten brain cancer using alternative therapies and nutrition, which she schilled through her own app called The Whole Pantry.
In reality, Gibson never had cancer and was fined over $410,000 by a Victorian court for false claims and failing to donate proceeds from her app sales to charities as promised.
'I have this depth of hate towards her (Gibson) and I don't hate anyone,' Finlayson said in a video published on her Instagram account 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.'
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