Why Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar about the Belle Gibson scandal should be your next TV addiction

Every so often, a jaw-droppingly addictive crime drama arrives on our screens and we’d like to introduce you to the latest one. Based on the true-ish story of Australian wellness influencer Belle Gibson, Apple Cider Vinegar is centred around one truly wicked lie - and it’s coming to Netflix this Thursday. Got plans? Now might be the time to cancel them.

The six-part drama follows Belle (played by Kaitlyn Dever) who finds huge viral fame after she claims to have cured her own terminal brain cancer using non-medical wellness solutions. Only it turns out that Belle has never actually been diagnosed with cancer - despite sharing her story through social media, the mobile app she develops, and its companion cookbook.

Created by Australian writer Samantha Strauss (Nine Perfect Strangers), who was living in Melbourne during the real-life Gibson’s success in the early 2010s, it’s a story that really is as shocking as it sounds – and we haven’t even got to the nitty gritty yet. Here’s everything else you need to know about the new series - and why it should be your next TV addiction...

What is Apple Cider Vinegar about?

Inspired by a true story that was based on a lie, Apple Cider Vinegar stars Kaitlyn Dever as Belle Gibson, an Australian wellness influencer who claims to have cured her terminal brain cancer through "healthy living". In fact, she goes on to build an entire wellness empire off the back of her claims. It turns out, however, that Belle has never actually been diagnosed with - or cured of - the malignant brain tumour that she shares with the world through social media channels.

According to Netflix, the series has "inspirations in real events" and so it's "true-ish". The streamer has also shared that it serves as a cultural interrogation of the times, exploring the birth of Instagram, the allure and rise of wellness culture, peak "girl boss" start-up culture, and the age of innocence on social media when very few checks and balances were in place.

Who is Belle Gibson, the woman Apple Cider Vineger is inspired by?

Belle Gibson is a 33-year-old Australian convicted scammer. Throughout her career as a wellness influencer, she falsely claimed to have been diagnosed with malignant brain, blood, spleen, uterine, liver and kidney cancers and said she was managing it through diet, exercise, natural medicine and alternative medicine therapies. Her social media presence told the story of how, after being told she only had four months to live, she cured her inoperable brain cancer through healthy eating and living.

Gibson grew a huge online business off the back of her story, which included a health and wellness mobile app and accompanying cookbook. She also claimed she donated large portions of her income and her company’s profits to numerous charities. This was also a lie. Eventually, it all came crumbling down and Gibson was exposed as a fraudster.

Who's starring in Apple Cider Vinegar?

The cast of Apple Cider Vinegar includes:

• Kaitlyn Dever (Dopesick, Unbelievable)
• Alycia Debnam-Carey (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, Fear the Walking Dead)
• Aisha Dee (The Bold Type, Safe Home)
• Tilda Cobham-Hervey (The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, I Am Woman)
• Ashley Zukerman (Succession)
• Mark Coles Smith (Mystery Road: Origin)
• Susie Porter (Irreverent, Wentworth)
• Matt Nable (Transfusion, Last King of the Cross)
• Phoenix Raei (The Night Agent)
• Chai Hansen (Night Sky, The New Legends of Monkey)
• Rick Davies (Offspring)
• Kieran Darcy-Smith (Mr Inbetween)
• Catherine McClements (Total Control)
• Essie Davis (One Day, The Babadook)

How can I watch Apple Cider Vinegar?

All six episodes of Apple Cider Vinegar will be released on Netflix on Thursday 6th February.