What happened to Belle Gibson’s boyfriend, son and family after her scam in Apple Cider Vinegar

We’re all hooked by Netflix’s show Apple Cider Vinegar, and have suddenly become experts overnight in the Belle Gibson court case. The Australian influencer became famous for claiming she’d used holistic methods to cure her terminal brain cancer – except she didn’t actually have cancer at all. Here’s a rundown of what happened to Belle Gibson’s family members after her scam was exposed, including her son, boyfriend, mother and brother.

Belle Gibson does really have a son

Belle Gibson’s baby in Apple Cider Vinegar
(Image via Netflix)

Yes, she really does have a child. He was born in Melbourne in 2009, when Belle Gibson was 18. His father is her then-boyfriend Nathan Corbett. He’s around 14 now. In the Netflix show, Belle Gibson’s son is called Oliver. We don’t know her real child’s name.

The specific scenes with Belle Gibson and her son in Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar are made up in order to tell Belle Gibson’s overall story. The show’s creator Samantha Strauss told The Guardian she used “creative licence” when writing the scene when the child is ill and Belle locks him in his bedroom.

Belle Gibson owed her boyfriend Clive Rothwell lots of money

In Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar, Clive Rothwell helped raise Belle Gibson’s son
(Image via Netflix)

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Clive Rothwell is an IT worker. He began dating Belle Gibson in 2012, and helped her lots with The Whole Pantry and The Whole Life businesses. Belle Gibson has consistently said she told the truth about suffering a miscarriage with Clive in 2012.

Throughout the trial in 2019, Belle referred to Cive as her “friend”, not her partner or anything. She said she owed him $90,000 in legal fees.

They appear to still have had some kind of close relationship in 2019. It was reported they were still living together, he was covering lots of Belle’s living expenses, and he’d paid for Belle and her son to go on a month-long trip to somewhere in Africa.

However, it looks like the couple have now split up. Australian newspapers reported the couple were no longer living together. In 2023, he was photographed with another woman. Clive Rothwell tries to be very private now – he’s turned down lots of interviews with magazines and TV shows.

Belle Gibson’s real mother is dead now

Belle’s mother in Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar

Like in Apple Cider Vinegar, she really did give interviews about Belle Gibson’s scam.

Belle Gibson’s mother Natalie Del-Bello has given a very different account of Belle’s childhood to what Belle has said.

Belle told Australian Woman’s Weekly in 2015: “I was walking to school on my own, making school lunches and 
cleaning the house every day. It was my responsibility to do grocery shopping, do the washing, arrange medical appointments and pick up my brother. I didn’t have toys.”

Natalie’s version of events is very different. She said to the magazine: “What a lot of rubbish. Belle never cared for me, her brother is not autistic, and she’s barely done a minute’s housework in her life. I’ve practically worked myself into an early grave to give that girl everything she wanted in life.”

Although, in a different interview, Natalie seemed to be more defensive about her daughter. Natalie told the Herald Sun: “Belle told a white lie, aged 23-and-a-half. So what? Belle is allowed to tell little porky pies. Who the hell doesn’t tell a lie in their life? Nobody complained about Belle when she was helping people and now they want to put her under the microscope.

“It is time everyone moves on from this and allows Belle to grow and be a mother to her little boy. She should be left alone so she can get her life back on track.”

Natalie died in 2017 from multiple sclerosis. We don’t know what her relationship was like with Belle before her death.

Belle Gibson’s brother
(Image via YouTube)

Her brother, Nick, was clearly very upset with Belle Gibson after her scam was exposed. He said in the 60 Minutes Australia interview Belle called him a “r*tard” throughout their childhood, and this caused him to develop self-esteem issues. Nick hasn’t ever been diagnosed with autism (although Belle insisted he was autistic). It was reported in 2015 that he was estranged from her.

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 image of Apple Cider Vinegar via Netflix.