Did Belle Gibson’s mother really do an interview like in Apple Cider Vinegar?

The Netflix show Apple Cider Vinegar is based on the real life of Belle Gibson, a wellness influencer who (falsely) claimed she’d cured brain cancer with a special healthy diet. There’s a really dramatic moment in the show when Belle Gibson’s mother goes against her daughter and does a huge interview slamming her. But did this really happen in real life?

Who was Belle Gibson’s mother?

Her name was Natalie Dal-Bello. She sadly died of multiple sclerosis in 2017 – about two years after Belle’s fake cancer scam was exposed. She had another child called Nick, who spoke about growing up with Belle Gibson in the famous 60 Minutes Australia interview.

Belle Gibson said in 2015 she hadn’t spoken to her mother since 2013. We don’t know what their relationship was like before Natalie died.

Belle Gibson’s mother really did blast her in an interview

in Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar, Natalie really lays into her daughter. She tells a reporter: “She’s a silly girl who’s always had ideas above her station, living beyond her means and addicted to that computer. I can’t begin to tell you how embarrassed we are by what that girl has done.” In the show, Natalie then storms out of the set, still wearing the suit she was leant for the interview.

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Natalie didn’t behave quite so dramatically in real life. But she did give two interviews about her daughter. In an interview with Australian Women’s Weekly, Belle talked at length about how difficult her childhood was. Belle claimed: “When I started school, my mum went, ‘My daughter is grown up now.’ All of a sudden, 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.”

A very young Belle Gibson
(Image via 60 Minutes Australia / YouTube)

Belle Gibson’s mother later contacted the publication to dispute Belle’s claims. Her response was fairly scathing. She said: “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.

Natalie said she was “deeply hurt and incredibly upset” by Belle’s behaviour. She apologised to people who had been hurt be Belle’s claims. “For what small part we played in her life, we would like to say sorry.”

Then in another interview, Belle Gibson’s mother called the cancer scam ‘little porky pies’?

Belle Gibson finally admitted to lying about having cancer in the 60 Minutes Australia interview
(Image via YouTube)

Two months later, Natalie seemed to have changed her viewpoint on Belle Gibson’s scam. She told an Australian newspaper called The Herald Sun that she felt compelled to speak out after Belle’s interview with 60 Minutes Australia. Natalie compared Belle’s TV appearance to “suicide” and her critics to piranhas. She said: “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.

She added: “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.”

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 of Apple Cider Vinegar via Netflix.