How much money Belle Gibson made from wellness scams, and what her net worth is now

Netlix’s Apple Cider Vinegar tells the story of Belle Gibson, a very real wellness influencer who claimed she was using holistic treatments to cure her cancer. It turned out she never had cancer in the first place. Here’s a look at how much money the real Belle Gibson made while she was a famous influencer, and what her net worth actually is now. She was fined loads of money and still hasn’t paid up in 2025.

Belle Gibson made loads of money from her app and book

She dropped out of school and worked for a catering company. When Belle Gibson was 21 in 2013, she launched a wellness app called The Whole Pantry. It was downloaded a huge 200,000 times within the first month. She had a deal with Apple so the app would come pre-installed on some Apple Watches.

Her recipe book (also called The Whole Pantry) came out in October 2014. It was estimated in 2015 that Belle Gibson made over a million Australian dollars (£505,000) from the app and book.

She claimed she had donated more than $300,000 (£151,000) of her profits to charities supporting cancer patients. She actually only ever gave away $7,000. Belle Gibson used the money she said would go to charity to fund her own lavish lifestyle – she rented a large beachside apartment in Victoria, drove a BMW, owned several $2,000 (£1,000)handbags, and went on lots of first-class holidays.

The authorities fined her a huge amount of money

Belle Gibson was fined loads of money. Eight years later, the saga of her actually paying it still isn’t over.

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Her scam was exposed in 2015. Then in 2017, the Australian federal court decided Belle Gibson had made misleading and deceptive claims, and ordered her to pay a $410,000 (£207,000) fine, plus $30,000 (£15,000) in legal costs. The court gave her two weeks to pay this fine. She didn’t.

Belle Gibson was ordered again to pay the money two years later, but said she couldn’t afford it. In 2020 and 2021, Gibson’s home was raided. The Victorian Sheriff’s Office was allowed to take things that belong to her and sell them to pay off some of the debt. We don’t know how much of the debt was recovered through this.

Consumer Affairs Victoria hasn’t disclosed how much money Gibson now has to pay in 2025. But fines like these can attract interest, so it is likely the fine, penalties and interest are now over $500,000 (£252,000).

Jacinta Allan, the premier of Victoria, said on Thursday 13th February: “Consumer Affairs Victoria is continuing to pursue this, particularly in the context of the orders that have been made by the court.

“There are fines outstanding and Consumer Affairs Victoria is pursuing this constantly and consistently and won’t let up.”

Belle Gibson has reportedly chosen not to make money from documentaries

Belle Gibson in Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar

A UK casting producer told the MailOnline Belle Gibson was offered a huge amount of money to make a documentary.

The source said: “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.

“The ‘doco’ style series would have required Belle to be vulnerable and honest. That could have been a real turning point in development. You would think a quarter of a million dollars would seem like a pretty sweet deal for Gibson, who is single and doing it tough in the north of Melbourne.”

The casting director theorised Belle Gibson is reluctant to earn any big amounts of money now, as it would go straight to paying off the debt?

They said: “Whatever money she received would have been absorbed into the $500,000 debt still owed basically. She would love the money. But I guess she doesn’t see the value in paying her debts, which is pretty disappointing.”

Apple Cider Vinegar is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.

Featured images via 60 Minutes Australia.