None of it is true: Wellness guru comes clean
Belle Gibson has admitted her cancer battle, fundraising efforts and wellness tips were all lies.
The embattled blogger has revealed to The Australian Women’s Weekly what many have suspected for weeks – that the wellness warrior’s chronicles of her battle with, and victory over, cancer were complete fabrications.
The 23-year-old rose to prominence by blogging about her battle with brain cancer and via her wellness app, The Whole Pantry.
“None of it is true,” she told the magazine.
“I am still jumping between what I think I know and what is reality. I have lived it and I’m not really there yet,” she said.
Cracks started to appear in her story when it was revealed that $300,000 raised by her app and promised to cancer charities was never donated.
The controversy gathered pace quickly with a book deal with Penguin evaporating and Apple removing her product from its App Store. Those who had purchased her products demanded their money back.
Gibson stopped short of telling the Weekly exactly why she had fabricated the story, leading it to speculate she may live with Munchausen’s syndrome.
But while the fallen wellness guru says she does not expect forgiveness for the episode, the repercussions have been harsh.
She has been forced to return her car and move out of her beachside home but her partner Clive Rothchild appears to have been more forgiving.
“He’s been very stern, along the lines of, “I just want you to acknowledge where you’ve f---ed up and try not to smooth over that”,” Gibson said.
She also revealed the public backlash from the episode had been so harsh it forced her into hiding.
She was reportedly not paid for her interview.
National news break – April 22
