For almost a decade, cancer faker Belle Gibson has attempted to disappear into obscurity after she was outed for lying about her diagnosis and scamming tens of thousands of dollars from vulnerable people. Thanks to Apple Cider Vinegar — Netflix’s latest series which depicts her story in a dramatised fashion — interest in the fraudster has only skyrocketed and apparently, she’s not too happy about it.
According to Daily Mail Australia, Gibson has been trying to lay low since her infamous pink turtleneck interview with Nine’s 60 Minutes in 2015. So much so that she reportedly turned down an offer for a whopping $250,000 to be interviewed by a British media company making a documentary series about scammers.
Despite owing more than $500,000 to Consumer Affairs Victoria (originally the fine was $410,000 but penalties and interest have accumulated), Gibson turned down the offer.
“There was $250,000 on the table for Belle to take part in a documentary series which would be a series of interviews that would explore her alleged personality disorder,” a casting producer told Daily Mail Australia.
“Belle turned it down straight away.”
According to the source, the untitled scammer doco has been in the works since 2022, but the UK filmmakers hadn’t thought to reach out to Belle until noticing the global popularity of Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar.
The insider said that they believed the docuseries would have required Gibson to be “vulnerable and honest” and that it could have been a “real turning point in development”.
However, if she had taken the money, it would have been obligated to go straight to the owed amount to the government.
According to an Australian casting producer who connected with the British production team, Gibson’s motive behind declining the offer was that she wanted to “hide from everyone”.
“The decision to hide from everyone has become Belle’s priority but that hasn’t helped anyone forgive or absolve her from faking having cancer and never properly admitting to it,” they told Daily Mail Australia.
“Belle was very concerned that taking part in the project would add more weight to the ‘narrative that she is a monster’, which she believes has been created by the media and doesn’t reflect reality.”
Gibson did not have anything to do with the creation of the Netflix series, nor did she receive any compensation for her name and story being used. However, the publication says that she’s “quietly seething over her portrayal” in the spicy Netflix series.
Ouchie mama.
