1 00:00:11,424 --> 00:00:16,024 Speaker 1: You're listening to a Muma Mia podcast. Mamma Mia acknowledges 2 00:00:16,144 --> 00:00:19,624 Speaker 1: the traditional owners of land and waders that this podcast 3 00:00:19,744 --> 00:00:21,664 Speaker 1: is recorded on spillers. 4 00:00:21,664 --> 00:00:25,104 Speaker 2: It's m venom here. You might know the name Belle Gibson. 5 00:00:25,224 --> 00:00:28,384 Speaker 2: She's an Australian who was once celebrated as a wellness 6 00:00:28,424 --> 00:00:32,704 Speaker 2: influencer and entrepreneur. She gained fame through her app and cookbook, 7 00:00:32,744 --> 00:00:36,184 Speaker 2: which he made hundreds of thousands of dollars for. She 8 00:00:36,304 --> 00:00:39,624 Speaker 2: claimed that she healed her terminal cancer with natural remedies, 9 00:00:39,704 --> 00:00:43,624 Speaker 2: but her story was revealed as a shocking scam, exposing 10 00:00:43,664 --> 00:00:48,544 Speaker 2: fabricated illnesses and unfulfilled charity promises. You're about to hear 11 00:00:48,704 --> 00:00:51,584 Speaker 2: all about her rise and fall from Mma MIA's podcast 12 00:00:51,664 --> 00:00:54,664 Speaker 2: Extraordinary Stories, And we thought you'd liked to hear her 13 00:00:54,704 --> 00:00:57,944 Speaker 2: story before the Netflix series about her drops Apple Cider 14 00:00:58,024 --> 00:01:00,104 Speaker 2: Vinegars coming out sometime this year. 15 00:01:03,064 --> 00:01:06,984 Speaker 3: On a warm summer's day in twenty fourteen, some of 16 00:01:07,024 --> 00:01:11,944 Speaker 3: Australia's most impressive women gathered at Ulla Muloo's famous finger 17 00:01:12,024 --> 00:01:16,384 Speaker 3: warves on Sydney Harbor. They were there to celebrate Cosmopolitan 18 00:01:16,424 --> 00:01:22,424 Speaker 3: Magazine's Fun Fearless Female Awards. Everything was sparkling, the water, 19 00:01:22,784 --> 00:01:25,264 Speaker 3: the sky and the cocktails. 20 00:01:26,344 --> 00:01:28,704 Speaker 1: Laughter echoed out across the wharf. 21 00:01:29,224 --> 00:01:32,984 Speaker 3: A Samantha Armitage sipped and nibbled alongside Jodi and Asta, 22 00:01:33,304 --> 00:01:38,104 Speaker 3: just Into Franklin, Lisa Wilkinson, Dummy Im, Hollywood it Girl, 23 00:01:38,264 --> 00:01:47,224 Speaker 3: Tara Reid, and Belle Gibson. If now that name brings 24 00:01:47,264 --> 00:01:50,784 Speaker 3: with it the weighty infamy of a notorious scam, then 25 00:01:51,384 --> 00:01:56,624 Speaker 3: it did not. Then Bell was there to be celebrated. 26 00:01:59,144 --> 00:01:59,744 Speaker 4: In social me. 27 00:02:01,904 --> 00:02:08,304 Speaker 5: I started posting about just fine day. I was interesting, 28 00:02:08,344 --> 00:02:11,904 Speaker 5: but was encouraged by friends of family. They knew that 29 00:02:12,104 --> 00:02:14,424 Speaker 5: what I was sharing some of el singing. 30 00:02:14,704 --> 00:02:18,384 Speaker 3: She was what we now know as an influencer, a 31 00:02:18,384 --> 00:02:22,304 Speaker 3: young entrepreneurial mother whose cookbook and iPhone app were a 32 00:02:22,624 --> 00:02:26,424 Speaker 3: huge success, and she didn't look even a little bit 33 00:02:26,464 --> 00:02:30,744 Speaker 3: out of place alongside Sydney's social a list, dressed in white, 34 00:02:31,304 --> 00:02:35,504 Speaker 3: apparently glowing with health, despite the fact that a very 35 00:02:35,624 --> 00:02:38,504 Speaker 3: large piece of her story and appeal was that she 36 00:02:38,744 --> 00:02:40,344 Speaker 3: was far from healthy. 37 00:02:40,904 --> 00:02:43,384 Speaker 1: Belle was going through a very. 38 00:02:43,384 --> 00:02:47,464 Speaker 3: Public battle with a malignant brain tumor, just the latest, 39 00:02:47,544 --> 00:02:50,784 Speaker 3: she claimed, in a series of life threatening illnesses she'd 40 00:02:50,824 --> 00:02:54,464 Speaker 3: been diagnosed with since she was a teenager. It was 41 00:02:54,504 --> 00:02:57,384 Speaker 3: why she was there as Cosmo's editor at the time. 42 00:02:57,584 --> 00:02:59,504 Speaker 3: Bronwyn mccahan says, you wanted. 43 00:02:59,264 --> 00:02:59,824 Speaker 6: To hug her. 44 00:02:59,984 --> 00:03:03,944 Speaker 7: That's the best description. She had, this very sweet nature, 45 00:03:04,624 --> 00:03:08,904 Speaker 7: very personable, shiny eyes where you just thought, gosh, you're 46 00:03:08,904 --> 00:03:11,824 Speaker 7: going through so much and look at you, you clever girl, 47 00:03:11,904 --> 00:03:14,304 Speaker 7: that you've done all of this stuff with the app 48 00:03:14,344 --> 00:03:17,864 Speaker 7: and apple and everything, and even looking back now, not 49 00:03:18,104 --> 00:03:21,184 Speaker 7: at all would you ever go there was something dodgy 50 00:03:21,184 --> 00:03:22,184 Speaker 7: about her, Not at all. 51 00:03:22,384 --> 00:03:27,664 Speaker 3: She was the sweetest, but there was something dodgy about 52 00:03:27,784 --> 00:03:29,464 Speaker 3: Belle Gibson. 53 00:03:41,144 --> 00:03:42,184 Speaker 1: From Muma Mia. 54 00:03:42,344 --> 00:03:46,824 Speaker 3: Welcome to Extraordinary Stories, the podcast that takes you inside 55 00:03:46,864 --> 00:03:49,704 Speaker 3: the stories you thought you knew with the women who 56 00:03:49,784 --> 00:03:53,984 Speaker 3: really do. I'm your host, Emma Gillespie. On this season 57 00:03:54,064 --> 00:03:56,784 Speaker 3: of Extraordinary Stories, we're looking at the young woman who 58 00:03:56,824 --> 00:04:00,184 Speaker 3: fooled not only her hundreds of thousands of followers, but 59 00:04:00,224 --> 00:04:04,504 Speaker 3: the most prestigious book publishers in Australia, the tech giants 60 00:04:04,584 --> 00:04:08,984 Speaker 3: of Silicon Valley, and even her family and friends into 61 00:04:09,024 --> 00:04:14,184 Speaker 3: believing she was something she was not, sick and making 62 00:04:14,584 --> 00:04:16,864 Speaker 3: lots of money as she did it. 63 00:04:17,424 --> 00:04:20,104 Speaker 1: You're going to hear from the people she tricked. 64 00:04:20,184 --> 00:04:22,584 Speaker 4: I'm getting sicker, I'm having chemo, I'm following all of 65 00:04:22,704 --> 00:04:26,104 Speaker 4: what the doctors say to do, and I'm nearly dying. 66 00:04:26,224 --> 00:04:28,384 Speaker 8: And she's living her best life. 67 00:04:28,504 --> 00:04:31,064 Speaker 1: The people who sat face to face with her. 68 00:04:31,384 --> 00:04:34,984 Speaker 9: When I met Belle Gibson, she was more concerned about 69 00:04:34,984 --> 00:04:38,184 Speaker 9: the impact on herself. She knew to talk in a 70 00:04:38,224 --> 00:04:42,104 Speaker 9: sympathetic way about the people that she'd met, But I 71 00:04:42,344 --> 00:04:45,464 Speaker 9: think that no, she was most upset about the effect on. 72 00:04:45,424 --> 00:04:49,464 Speaker 3: Her and the people who had never seen anything like 73 00:04:49,544 --> 00:04:50,584 Speaker 3: it ever. 74 00:04:50,784 --> 00:04:53,544 Speaker 10: I haven't seen an example of online misleading, a deceptive 75 00:04:53,584 --> 00:04:56,584 Speaker 10: conduct of this sort of scale in this country or 76 00:04:56,944 --> 00:04:57,944 Speaker 10: frankly anywhere. 77 00:04:58,064 --> 00:05:01,824 Speaker 7: She doesn't have cancer, she has no brain tumors. Everything 78 00:05:01,904 --> 00:05:02,424 Speaker 7: is a lie. 79 00:05:02,944 --> 00:05:13,304 Speaker 3: This is extraordinary stories Belle Gibson. Winnim is an unremarkable 80 00:05:13,344 --> 00:05:18,504 Speaker 3: suburb of Brisbane, wide streets, weatherboard Queenslanders, with iconic verandas 81 00:05:18,864 --> 00:05:23,264 Speaker 3: and a view overlooking Morton Bay. There's a jetty mangroves, 82 00:05:23,784 --> 00:05:26,544 Speaker 3: a popular waiting pool frequented by local kids in the 83 00:05:26,544 --> 00:05:31,064 Speaker 3: summer holidays. It's also where Annabelle Natalie Gibson grew up. 84 00:05:31,784 --> 00:05:36,024 Speaker 3: Born in October nineteen ninety one, Her story starts there 85 00:05:36,744 --> 00:05:40,464 Speaker 3: in Queensland. It's not necessarily the kind of place you 86 00:05:40,544 --> 00:05:41,584 Speaker 3: might imagine. 87 00:05:41,184 --> 00:05:42,824 Speaker 1: Us home to a master criminal. 88 00:05:43,144 --> 00:05:48,224 Speaker 3: But then again, Belle Gibson's origin story isn't particularly easy 89 00:05:48,224 --> 00:05:51,664 Speaker 3: to piece together, but there are a few things we 90 00:05:51,864 --> 00:05:54,304 Speaker 3: can be sure of. One of them is that Bell 91 00:05:54,384 --> 00:05:57,184 Speaker 3: Gibson grew up at least for a time, in Winnham 92 00:05:57,664 --> 00:06:01,504 Speaker 3: with her mum Natalie, and her brother Nick. Despite its 93 00:06:01,504 --> 00:06:05,144 Speaker 3: suburban charm nowadays, back in the early two thousands there 94 00:06:05,184 --> 00:06:08,744 Speaker 3: was a spike in local crime around Winnham. For example, 95 00:06:08,784 --> 00:06:11,344 Speaker 3: police at in forsterban On Hoodie is to deal with 96 00:06:11,384 --> 00:06:14,144 Speaker 3: the increasing amount of armed robberies in the area, and 97 00:06:14,264 --> 00:06:19,024 Speaker 3: things at Bell's place weren't always easy. According to Belle, 98 00:06:19,144 --> 00:06:22,664 Speaker 3: she had a nomadic childhood, having never met her father 99 00:06:22,864 --> 00:06:25,344 Speaker 3: and constantly moving between cities before. 100 00:06:25,144 --> 00:06:28,344 Speaker 1: Settling in Brisbane. She told The Australian Woman's Weekly in 101 00:06:28,384 --> 00:06:29,544 Speaker 1: twenty fifteen. 102 00:06:29,464 --> 00:06:32,544 Speaker 11: When I started school, my mum went my daughter's all 103 00:06:32,584 --> 00:06:35,304 Speaker 11: grown up. Now, All of a sudden, I was walking 104 00:06:35,304 --> 00:06:38,784 Speaker 11: to school on my own, making school lunches and cleaning 105 00:06:38,824 --> 00:06:41,864 Speaker 11: the house every day. It was my responsibility to do 106 00:06:41,904 --> 00:06:45,824 Speaker 11: grocery shopping, do the washing, arrange medical appointments and pick 107 00:06:45,904 --> 00:06:47,864 Speaker 11: up my brother. I didn't have toys. 108 00:06:48,424 --> 00:06:51,304 Speaker 3: Claire Weave, the journalist who interviewed her for that story, 109 00:06:51,344 --> 00:06:55,184 Speaker 3: says Belle claimed she was also burdened with responsibilities beyond 110 00:06:55,184 --> 00:06:58,384 Speaker 3: her years as a young girl, things like caring for 111 00:06:58,424 --> 00:06:59,504 Speaker 3: her autistic brother. 112 00:07:00,144 --> 00:07:02,824 Speaker 10: There might be truth in there, As with some other 113 00:07:02,824 --> 00:07:06,064 Speaker 10: things Belle has said, There might be It might be 114 00:07:06,064 --> 00:07:07,624 Speaker 10: the case that some of it's true and some of 115 00:07:07,664 --> 00:07:11,944 Speaker 10: it's been exaggerated or elaborated. Maybe she had just has 116 00:07:12,104 --> 00:07:16,504 Speaker 10: had this really terrible, bleak childhood. But I can't help think, 117 00:07:16,544 --> 00:07:19,704 Speaker 10: given the pattern of what she said recently, that maybe 118 00:07:19,904 --> 00:07:24,744 Speaker 10: some of it she's built upon and exaggerated. 119 00:07:25,384 --> 00:07:29,224 Speaker 3: Nick Toscano and Bo Donnelly, a Melbourne based journalist who 120 00:07:29,464 --> 00:07:33,064 Speaker 3: wrote a book about Belle Gibson. It's called The Woman 121 00:07:33,104 --> 00:07:36,424 Speaker 3: Who Fooled the World, Bo told Channel ten in twenty 122 00:07:36,464 --> 00:07:39,904 Speaker 3: seventeen that Belle may have had a difficult childhood. 123 00:07:39,984 --> 00:07:43,624 Speaker 6: Belle certainly has come from a troubled upbringing. She's come 124 00:07:43,624 --> 00:07:46,704 Speaker 6: from a lot of instability. Indeed, it doesn't excuse what 125 00:07:46,744 --> 00:07:49,464 Speaker 6: she's done, but we were left sort of feeling somewhat 126 00:07:49,824 --> 00:07:53,104 Speaker 6: sympathetic towards her. Of course, It doesn't excuse the sort 127 00:07:53,104 --> 00:07:56,464 Speaker 6: of wrongdoing and the deceit and the way she led 128 00:07:56,944 --> 00:08:04,424 Speaker 6: actual cancer sufferers astray. But look, someone who was mentally healthy, 129 00:08:04,664 --> 00:08:07,024 Speaker 6: completely mentally healthy, I don't think would have been able 130 00:08:07,064 --> 00:08:09,504 Speaker 6: to perpetuate such a life for so long. 131 00:08:09,544 --> 00:08:11,264 Speaker 8: So I think that an element of sympathy. 132 00:08:11,544 --> 00:08:14,944 Speaker 3: After apparent instability at home in her early years, Bell 133 00:08:15,104 --> 00:08:18,224 Speaker 3: seemed to have found her feet by high school, and 134 00:08:18,304 --> 00:08:22,784 Speaker 3: she thrived. Her teachers described her as a high achiever, 135 00:08:23,384 --> 00:08:28,784 Speaker 3: an exemplary pupil, but she also excelled outside of the classroom. 136 00:08:29,224 --> 00:08:32,664 Speaker 3: Bell enrolled in acting classes at the Mercury Youth Theater. 137 00:08:33,104 --> 00:08:36,584 Speaker 3: According to her drama teacher, she was quite good, and 138 00:08:36,664 --> 00:08:40,624 Speaker 3: she was renowned as a great storyteller. Among her peers, 139 00:08:41,184 --> 00:08:44,704 Speaker 3: Kelsey gamble knew Bell threw acting classes and remembers her 140 00:08:44,744 --> 00:08:48,384 Speaker 3: well partly for the way the other students reacted to 141 00:08:48,424 --> 00:08:52,104 Speaker 3: what they saw as her fantasist side. 142 00:08:52,344 --> 00:08:55,024 Speaker 1: Kelsey told Nick Toscano and Bo Donnelly. 143 00:08:54,864 --> 00:08:58,704 Speaker 10: She was extremely well known for what basically amounts to 144 00:08:58,784 --> 00:08:59,824 Speaker 10: compulsive lying. 145 00:09:00,184 --> 00:09:03,104 Speaker 7: She was honestly a laughing sotock half the time people 146 00:09:03,184 --> 00:09:03,864 Speaker 7: made fun of her. 147 00:09:04,344 --> 00:09:08,424 Speaker 3: Bell told classmates she was a test tube baby or 148 00:09:08,464 --> 00:09:12,144 Speaker 3: part of the witness Protection program. But there was one 149 00:09:12,264 --> 00:09:15,224 Speaker 3: theme that began to emerge in her Tall tales, and 150 00:09:15,264 --> 00:09:21,184 Speaker 3: it stuck around stories of medical dramas and incredible recovery. 151 00:09:21,744 --> 00:09:25,464 Speaker 3: Bell told many people that she'd suffered major heart problems 152 00:09:25,664 --> 00:09:28,504 Speaker 3: and had even undergone a series of life saving operations. 153 00:09:28,984 --> 00:09:33,144 Speaker 3: Bell's former boyfriend, Jacob he heard a lot of Bell's stories. 154 00:09:33,384 --> 00:09:35,704 Speaker 12: She couldn't go five minutes without making up a story 155 00:09:36,304 --> 00:09:38,824 Speaker 12: back then. It was about her heart, and it all 156 00:09:38,824 --> 00:09:40,304 Speaker 12: just went over the top of my head because it 157 00:09:40,384 --> 00:09:43,584 Speaker 12: was just so frequent. That's how she works. She just 158 00:09:43,664 --> 00:09:45,584 Speaker 12: opens her mouth and starts saying stories. 159 00:09:46,264 --> 00:09:49,064 Speaker 3: By the time she was eighteen, Belle had left school 160 00:09:49,144 --> 00:09:52,704 Speaker 3: and moved to Perth. That's where she found her first 161 00:09:52,744 --> 00:09:57,104 Speaker 3: online audience. It's also where, according to The Weekly, Bell 162 00:09:57,224 --> 00:10:00,584 Speaker 3: started working in a call center at a private health 163 00:10:00,624 --> 00:10:04,464 Speaker 3: insurance firm. She was speaking to sick people day in, 164 00:10:05,264 --> 00:10:08,584 Speaker 3: day out and hearing all about their illnesses. 165 00:10:09,064 --> 00:10:10,344 Speaker 1: She told Claire Weaver at. 166 00:10:10,864 --> 00:10:13,904 Speaker 11: I was hearing some horrible things about what people were 167 00:10:13,904 --> 00:10:14,504 Speaker 11: going through. 168 00:10:14,984 --> 00:10:18,464 Speaker 3: Bell's first blogging experience came through a chat room about 169 00:10:18,504 --> 00:10:22,064 Speaker 3: rock band The Flaming Lips. She told that community She 170 00:10:22,104 --> 00:10:24,744 Speaker 3: was posting from a Perth hospital ward where she was 171 00:10:24,784 --> 00:10:28,144 Speaker 3: waiting for the first of three or more operations to 172 00:10:28,184 --> 00:10:32,184 Speaker 3: remove fluid from around her heart. Bell described in vivid 173 00:10:32,224 --> 00:10:37,104 Speaker 3: detail a series of operations, specialist appointments, even visits to 174 00:10:37,144 --> 00:10:40,744 Speaker 3: the hospital chapel. She said she was undergoing tests for 175 00:10:40,824 --> 00:10:45,784 Speaker 3: a heart tumor and preparing for chemotherapy. Bell also wrote 176 00:10:45,864 --> 00:10:49,104 Speaker 3: that she went into a coma after dying on the 177 00:10:49,144 --> 00:10:50,104 Speaker 3: operating table. 178 00:10:50,504 --> 00:10:52,944 Speaker 11: The doctor comes in and tells me the draining failed 179 00:10:53,104 --> 00:10:55,624 Speaker 11: and I went into cardiac arrest and died for just 180 00:10:55,744 --> 00:10:59,344 Speaker 11: under three minutes. I went straight into a coma situation 181 00:10:59,424 --> 00:11:02,864 Speaker 11: for six hours and just woke up crying for my iPhone. 182 00:11:04,024 --> 00:11:07,424 Speaker 11: They're amazed I'm sitting up already and claim a miracle. Anyway, 183 00:11:07,504 --> 00:11:10,104 Speaker 11: the procedure failed and I died pretty nali. 184 00:11:10,744 --> 00:11:14,464 Speaker 3: After her alleged major heart surgery, there was another turning 185 00:11:14,504 --> 00:11:18,584 Speaker 3: point in Bell's story. She got the cervical cancer vaccine, 186 00:11:18,744 --> 00:11:22,344 Speaker 3: a HPV immunization that began to roll out across Australia 187 00:11:22,424 --> 00:11:25,464 Speaker 3: in two thousand and seven. Bell wrote that after getting 188 00:11:25,544 --> 00:11:29,464 Speaker 3: her second vaccination, she suffered a stroke. 189 00:11:30,224 --> 00:11:31,024 Speaker 1: It was a. 190 00:11:30,944 --> 00:11:35,144 Speaker 3: Strange claim, as doctor Brad Mackay Sydney GP and author 191 00:11:35,184 --> 00:11:37,824 Speaker 3: of Fake Medicine, explains back. 192 00:11:37,704 --> 00:11:39,904 Speaker 13: In two thousand and nine, Bell Gibson said that she 193 00:11:39,984 --> 00:11:43,424 Speaker 13: received a terrible diagnosis from her doctor. She says that 194 00:11:43,464 --> 00:11:46,824 Speaker 13: she was diagnosed with brain cancer, it was terminal and 195 00:11:46,864 --> 00:11:49,304 Speaker 13: she only had a few months to live. This is 196 00:11:49,304 --> 00:11:51,584 Speaker 13: a really odd part of the story where Bell Gibson 197 00:11:51,704 --> 00:11:54,584 Speaker 13: was saying that she had been immunized against civical cancer 198 00:11:54,824 --> 00:11:58,064 Speaker 13: and then subsequently had had a stroke, and then that 199 00:11:58,144 --> 00:12:01,224 Speaker 13: had led to brain cancer. So it's sort of like 200 00:12:01,304 --> 00:12:05,224 Speaker 13: blaming a vaccine on getting cancer. But what we know 201 00:12:05,304 --> 00:12:09,784 Speaker 13: about using the HPV, the human papaloma virus vaccine, is 202 00:12:09,824 --> 00:12:12,184 Speaker 13: that it not been linked at all with cancer. It's 203 00:12:12,264 --> 00:12:15,984 Speaker 13: not linked with stroke whatsoever, so blaming it is a 204 00:12:16,024 --> 00:12:19,384 Speaker 13: little bit far fetched. We do know that it's great 205 00:12:19,384 --> 00:12:22,624 Speaker 13: at stopping people from getting cervical cancer and also genital warts, 206 00:12:22,944 --> 00:12:26,624 Speaker 13: but also with brain cancer. If that's growing, that could 207 00:12:26,624 --> 00:12:29,184 Speaker 13: potentially break a blood vessel and then cause a stroke 208 00:12:29,224 --> 00:12:32,064 Speaker 13: to happen. But a stroke itself, like a bleed within 209 00:12:32,104 --> 00:12:34,704 Speaker 13: the brain, that's not going to trigger a cancer to 210 00:12:34,744 --> 00:12:36,384 Speaker 13: then occur. It's the wrong way round. 211 00:12:36,744 --> 00:12:39,104 Speaker 3: It's at this point that eighteen year old Bell says 212 00:12:39,224 --> 00:12:41,904 Speaker 3: she was introduced to a man called doctor Mark John's 213 00:12:42,184 --> 00:12:46,264 Speaker 3: by a group of anti vaccination campaigners. Bell said doctor 214 00:12:46,344 --> 00:12:50,744 Speaker 3: John's was a neurologist and immunologist from Melbourne's Peter McCallum 215 00:12:50,784 --> 00:12:54,384 Speaker 3: Cancer Center. This introduction would set about a chain of 216 00:12:54,384 --> 00:12:57,984 Speaker 3: events that would eventually bring Bell to Melbourne, where she 217 00:12:58,104 --> 00:13:03,704 Speaker 3: settled permanently and where everything was about to change. You'll 218 00:13:03,744 --> 00:13:09,864 Speaker 3: hear more about doctor John's later in Bell's story. It 219 00:13:09,904 --> 00:13:13,984 Speaker 3: was towoenty ten Bell was living in Melbourne with her 220 00:13:14,024 --> 00:13:18,984 Speaker 3: boyfriend Nathan Corbett. She'd been diagnosed with brain cancer and 221 00:13:19,024 --> 00:13:21,544 Speaker 3: she was about to give birth to her son, Oliver. 222 00:13:22,344 --> 00:13:24,744 Speaker 3: It was around this time that Belle claimed she underwent 223 00:13:24,824 --> 00:13:26,624 Speaker 3: conventional treatment for this. 224 00:13:26,704 --> 00:13:27,784 Speaker 1: Malignant brain tumor. 225 00:13:28,184 --> 00:13:31,424 Speaker 3: Doctor Brad mackay says there are a few options that 226 00:13:31,504 --> 00:13:34,344 Speaker 3: would be presented to patients with Bell's diagnosis. 227 00:13:34,704 --> 00:13:38,464 Speaker 13: The treatment options that Bell would have been offered would 228 00:13:38,504 --> 00:13:42,944 Speaker 13: have been things like chemotherapy, radiotherapy so poisons into the 229 00:13:43,024 --> 00:13:46,504 Speaker 13: vein to try to kill the cancer. Radiotherapy so putting 230 00:13:46,624 --> 00:13:49,304 Speaker 13: X rays towards where the cancers were to try to 231 00:13:49,344 --> 00:13:53,224 Speaker 13: shrink them down. Sometimes we would engage with surgery. So 232 00:13:53,264 --> 00:13:55,224 Speaker 13: many people with brain cancer will have a scar on 233 00:13:55,264 --> 00:13:57,504 Speaker 13: the side of their head where a surgeons have gone 234 00:13:57,544 --> 00:13:58,304 Speaker 13: and to remove it. 235 00:13:58,584 --> 00:14:02,864 Speaker 3: But Bell would eventually describe how she abandoned these treatments 236 00:14:03,384 --> 00:14:07,264 Speaker 3: in favor of holistic remedies and alternative medicine. 237 00:14:07,304 --> 00:14:10,504 Speaker 13: So Bell said that she went in for treatment at 238 00:14:10,504 --> 00:14:12,904 Speaker 13: the hospital, that she went to the oncology ward, and 239 00:14:12,984 --> 00:14:16,064 Speaker 13: that she received treatment. She was saying that it was 240 00:14:16,144 --> 00:14:18,464 Speaker 13: just too much for her. That it was if she 241 00:14:18,504 --> 00:14:21,904 Speaker 13: was feeling overwhelmed. She didn't really know what to do. 242 00:14:22,664 --> 00:14:26,944 Speaker 13: She wasn't wanting to persevere with the typical medical model 243 00:14:27,144 --> 00:14:30,864 Speaker 13: with westernized treatment, and so she decided at that time 244 00:14:30,904 --> 00:14:33,744 Speaker 13: that she wanted to take some alternative remedies. She wanted 245 00:14:33,784 --> 00:14:36,024 Speaker 13: to do her own research and figure out what would 246 00:14:36,064 --> 00:14:37,424 Speaker 13: work for her and her body. 247 00:14:37,464 --> 00:14:38,624 Speaker 8: At that time, this. 248 00:14:38,624 --> 00:14:43,344 Speaker 3: Became a crucial turning point in Bell's blogs. Today, wellness 249 00:14:43,384 --> 00:14:47,664 Speaker 3: influences are a mainstream staple of every social media platform, 250 00:14:48,584 --> 00:14:51,424 Speaker 3: but in two thousand and nine they were just beginning 251 00:14:51,424 --> 00:14:55,224 Speaker 3: to flourish. Many of us hadn't even heard of the 252 00:14:55,224 --> 00:15:00,984 Speaker 3: word wellness. Known as the original wellness warrior, Jessica Ainsco, 253 00:15:01,384 --> 00:15:05,464 Speaker 3: another young woman from Queensland, was documenting her alternative cancer 254 00:15:05,544 --> 00:15:10,384 Speaker 3: treatment online to an ever growing audience. Jessica was a 255 00:15:10,424 --> 00:15:15,184 Speaker 3: writer and blogger, an online editor for Dolly magazine, living 256 00:15:15,184 --> 00:15:18,624 Speaker 3: what she deemed her hectic dream life in Sydney. When 257 00:15:18,664 --> 00:15:22,544 Speaker 3: she was diagnosed with an extremely rare and aggressive sarcoma. 258 00:15:23,024 --> 00:15:26,224 Speaker 3: She was only twenty three. The cancer was in her 259 00:15:26,304 --> 00:15:29,304 Speaker 3: left arm and hand, and after being told that her 260 00:15:29,304 --> 00:15:31,584 Speaker 3: best treatment option was amputation. 261 00:15:31,704 --> 00:15:35,144 Speaker 1: Jess had decided to try to heal herself. 262 00:15:35,064 --> 00:15:45,384 Speaker 3: Without traditional cancer treatment and to document the process. Jessica 263 00:15:45,584 --> 00:15:50,024 Speaker 3: was a devotee of Gerson therapy, a food based protocol 264 00:15:50,064 --> 00:15:53,664 Speaker 3: that claims to cure all kinds of serious ailments, most 265 00:15:53,744 --> 00:15:58,424 Speaker 3: famously cancer, with an all vegetarian diet and a strict 266 00:15:58,464 --> 00:16:03,144 Speaker 3: regime of fruit and veggie juices and coffee enemies. Here's 267 00:16:03,264 --> 00:16:05,144 Speaker 3: jess describing her daily routine. 268 00:16:05,904 --> 00:16:08,144 Speaker 14: So basically a day the life of a gers In 269 00:16:08,184 --> 00:16:10,544 Speaker 14: person is I wake up at six o'clock in the 270 00:16:10,584 --> 00:16:13,944 Speaker 14: morning and I do my first coffee animal, so it's 271 00:16:13,984 --> 00:16:16,824 Speaker 14: onto the bathroom floor. Then I do my animal, and 272 00:16:16,864 --> 00:16:20,344 Speaker 14: then I go upstairs and I meditate for about half 273 00:16:20,384 --> 00:16:23,144 Speaker 14: an hour to twenty five minutes, and then breakfast is 274 00:16:23,224 --> 00:16:25,784 Speaker 14: at quarter past seven when we have our first juice, 275 00:16:25,784 --> 00:16:29,104 Speaker 14: which is orange juice, so breakfast at seven, and then 276 00:16:29,624 --> 00:16:32,424 Speaker 14: the next juice is at eight and the real vegg 277 00:16:32,424 --> 00:16:34,824 Speaker 14: you juice is start from them, and it's one vendo 278 00:16:34,944 --> 00:16:40,064 Speaker 14: juice every hour on the hour right up until six o'clock. 279 00:16:39,784 --> 00:16:40,344 Speaker 6: In the evening. 280 00:16:41,504 --> 00:16:44,384 Speaker 14: So yeah, basically throughout the day. And we also have 281 00:16:45,424 --> 00:16:47,464 Speaker 14: we do five coffee animals throughout the day, so it 282 00:16:47,584 --> 00:16:50,944 Speaker 14: spread between a few hours between each one. We have 283 00:16:51,104 --> 00:16:55,224 Speaker 14: three full meals each day breakfast, lunch, and dinner all 284 00:16:55,264 --> 00:17:00,024 Speaker 14: at the same time every day. And basically, yeah, the 285 00:17:00,624 --> 00:17:03,504 Speaker 14: therapy goes like that. We're rung like a bit of 286 00:17:03,504 --> 00:17:07,184 Speaker 14: a military rangeam actually on the hour every hour right 287 00:17:07,264 --> 00:17:08,424 Speaker 14: up until we go to. 288 00:17:08,344 --> 00:17:10,584 Speaker 1: Bed at ten o'clock, doctor Brad's says. 289 00:17:10,704 --> 00:17:14,064 Speaker 3: During her treatment, jess ains Co built up an online 290 00:17:14,104 --> 00:17:17,304 Speaker 3: profile promoting her belief that food was medicine. 291 00:17:17,464 --> 00:17:20,024 Speaker 13: Gerson therapy has been a therapy that's been around for many, 292 00:17:20,024 --> 00:17:23,344 Speaker 13: many years, even from the sixties and seventies. It's a 293 00:17:23,344 --> 00:17:26,344 Speaker 13: treatment that involves doing lots and lots of juices, so 294 00:17:26,504 --> 00:17:30,064 Speaker 13: fresh vegetables and fruit, putting them into a big juicer 295 00:17:30,304 --> 00:17:32,864 Speaker 13: and even it's quite onerous because you have to have 296 00:17:33,024 --> 00:17:36,784 Speaker 13: the juice on the hour, every hour, every day for 297 00:17:36,824 --> 00:17:40,624 Speaker 13: a long time. It also involves using enemas that usually 298 00:17:40,624 --> 00:17:44,104 Speaker 13: either contain coffee or castor oil, and again you need 299 00:17:44,144 --> 00:17:47,104 Speaker 13: to be doing these enemas a couple of times a 300 00:17:47,184 --> 00:17:49,944 Speaker 13: day at the least, with the whole principle that you're 301 00:17:49,944 --> 00:17:52,664 Speaker 13: trying to rid your body of toxins, getting rid of 302 00:17:52,704 --> 00:17:55,304 Speaker 13: toxins that could be sitting in your lower and testine 303 00:17:56,024 --> 00:18:00,064 Speaker 13: and evacuating them. So yeah, like it hasn't been proven 304 00:18:00,104 --> 00:18:03,504 Speaker 13: to work, and suddenly there are practitioners around the world 305 00:18:03,504 --> 00:18:06,744 Speaker 13: that still do it, but certainly it's not recommended in Australia. 306 00:18:06,944 --> 00:18:13,104 Speaker 3: Australia's wellness army was swelling and just like Jess, Belle 307 00:18:13,144 --> 00:18:14,384 Speaker 3: was going to be a part of it. 308 00:18:14,584 --> 00:18:17,304 Speaker 1: Bill Gibson is part of a new breed of entrepreneurs. 309 00:18:17,424 --> 00:18:19,024 Speaker 1: She is an ecopreneur. 310 00:18:21,344 --> 00:18:22,184 Speaker 5: He tastes like mango. 311 00:18:22,424 --> 00:18:24,864 Speaker 1: Bell launched the Whole Pantry at last year. 312 00:18:24,944 --> 00:18:28,344 Speaker 3: Belle Gibson was a single mother living in Melbourne when 313 00:18:28,384 --> 00:18:31,224 Speaker 3: she was told she only had four months to live. 314 00:18:31,864 --> 00:18:35,344 Speaker 3: She said she tried chemotherapy, then radiation. She said she 315 00:18:35,384 --> 00:18:40,144 Speaker 3: then started exploring alternative therapies, including Gerson. Just like Jess, 316 00:18:40,704 --> 00:18:45,624 Speaker 3: there's no scientific evidence that Gerson therapy cures cancer, but 317 00:18:45,744 --> 00:18:49,704 Speaker 3: Belle was alive and thriving. Whatever she was doing, it 318 00:18:49,824 --> 00:18:54,384 Speaker 3: seemed to work. So in twenty thirteen, Belle Gibson decided, 319 00:18:54,784 --> 00:18:57,824 Speaker 3: just like Jess, to share her story with the world 320 00:18:57,984 --> 00:19:02,584 Speaker 3: on Instagram, speaking candidly about her cancer and the wellness 321 00:19:02,704 --> 00:19:06,744 Speaker 3: journey she believed was healing it, documenting the highs and 322 00:19:06,824 --> 00:19:09,984 Speaker 3: lows of her day to day experiences. It was her 323 00:19:10,024 --> 00:19:13,664 Speaker 3: blog and social media platforms that would eventually land her 324 00:19:13,864 --> 00:19:18,664 Speaker 3: a ground breaking app and a best selling book. Just 325 00:19:18,784 --> 00:19:22,344 Speaker 3: like Jess Ainsco had publicly documented, Belle claimed she was 326 00:19:22,424 --> 00:19:27,824 Speaker 3: curing herself through food and lifestyle, not medicine. Not only 327 00:19:27,864 --> 00:19:31,624 Speaker 3: did her quickly growing follower base believe Bell, they gave 328 00:19:31,664 --> 00:19:36,664 Speaker 3: her the attention she craved, out pourings of sympathy and concern, 329 00:19:36,944 --> 00:19:41,104 Speaker 3: and perhaps most importantly, fellow cancer sufferers looked to her 330 00:19:41,144 --> 00:19:45,504 Speaker 3: for hope. To them, this brave young woman was a beacon. 331 00:19:45,984 --> 00:19:48,864 Speaker 3: If she was doing so well, surely they could too. 332 00:19:51,224 --> 00:19:54,424 Speaker 3: In twenty fourteen, Kylie Willie was in a hospital bed, 333 00:19:54,464 --> 00:19:58,144 Speaker 3: feeling defeated and hopeless when she started following Belle Gibson 334 00:19:58,264 --> 00:20:02,384 Speaker 3: on social media. Kylie, accustomed to an active lifestyle as 335 00:20:02,424 --> 00:20:07,304 Speaker 3: a personal trainer, had recently gained thirty kilos. Her long 336 00:20:07,344 --> 00:20:12,384 Speaker 3: brown hair had fallen out. Kylie had been diagnosed with 337 00:20:12,584 --> 00:20:17,264 Speaker 3: grade three B T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma in her early forties. 338 00:20:18,064 --> 00:20:21,824 Speaker 3: She had not one, but several tumors from her pelvis 339 00:20:21,984 --> 00:20:23,424 Speaker 3: all the way up to her neck. 340 00:20:23,544 --> 00:20:26,824 Speaker 4: I was completely shocked because I didn't smoke, you know, yeah, 341 00:20:26,824 --> 00:20:29,664 Speaker 4: I'd like a glass of wine. But it was nothing excessive, 342 00:20:29,984 --> 00:20:34,024 Speaker 4: lived a healthy life, no history of lymphoma in my family. 343 00:20:34,584 --> 00:20:37,184 Speaker 8: Just a complete and utter mind blowing shock. 344 00:20:37,424 --> 00:20:40,064 Speaker 3: In a race to stop the cancer spreading to her brain, 345 00:20:40,224 --> 00:20:44,944 Speaker 3: Kylie had begun aggressive chemotherapy. It caused her physical pain 346 00:20:45,064 --> 00:20:47,904 Speaker 3: in a way she had never experienced before. 347 00:20:48,264 --> 00:20:52,704 Speaker 1: Her body ached. She felt constantly nauseous. 348 00:20:53,184 --> 00:20:55,744 Speaker 4: My girlfriend came to visit me at the Alfred and 349 00:20:56,744 --> 00:21:01,024 Speaker 4: she was chatting about Bell and talking about how she 350 00:21:01,624 --> 00:21:05,624 Speaker 4: has been going through treatment for cancer, but she's curing 351 00:21:05,624 --> 00:21:09,504 Speaker 4: herself with eating really healthy, clean diet, and you know, 352 00:21:09,544 --> 00:21:13,424 Speaker 4: she wasn't going through the chemo or anything like that, 353 00:21:13,464 --> 00:21:15,744 Speaker 4: and she was getting better. Yeah, so I sort of 354 00:21:16,144 --> 00:21:19,864 Speaker 4: was thinking here I am in the hospital, following the protocols, having. 355 00:21:19,664 --> 00:21:21,384 Speaker 8: Chemotherapy, getting sicker. 356 00:21:22,064 --> 00:21:25,664 Speaker 4: There's Belle gibbson writing books, signing deals with Apple. 357 00:21:25,944 --> 00:21:28,544 Speaker 8: She's got brain cancer, which is so much worse than mine. 358 00:21:28,704 --> 00:21:30,344 Speaker 8: She's having this clean diet. 359 00:21:30,384 --> 00:21:32,544 Speaker 4: I was obviously eating the food that was provided by 360 00:21:32,584 --> 00:21:34,904 Speaker 4: the Alfred, which isn't great. 361 00:21:35,064 --> 00:21:36,224 Speaker 8: You know, it's hospital food. 362 00:21:36,624 --> 00:21:39,384 Speaker 4: And I'm getting sicker, I'm having chemo, I'm following all 363 00:21:39,424 --> 00:21:43,024 Speaker 4: of what the doctors say to do, and I'm nearly dying. 364 00:21:43,184 --> 00:21:45,224 Speaker 8: And she's living her best life. 365 00:21:46,784 --> 00:21:50,504 Speaker 3: By twenty thirteen, Belle had well and truly found her 366 00:21:50,584 --> 00:21:54,424 Speaker 3: stride and her voice. Within a year of announcing on 367 00:21:54,464 --> 00:21:57,104 Speaker 3: social media that she'd been healing her brain cancer with 368 00:21:57,144 --> 00:22:02,624 Speaker 3: foods and alternative therapies, her ideas were turned into an app. 369 00:22:03,104 --> 00:22:06,744 Speaker 3: It was called The Whole Pantry, and it was full 370 00:22:06,784 --> 00:22:09,344 Speaker 3: of the kind of food that Belle was eating. It 371 00:22:09,384 --> 00:22:12,704 Speaker 3: would go on to win a wards be championed by Apple, 372 00:22:13,184 --> 00:22:19,104 Speaker 3: be described as groundbreaking, and Ganna Bell Gibson International acclaim 373 00:22:19,144 --> 00:22:21,584 Speaker 3: and a very lucrative book deal. 374 00:22:21,944 --> 00:22:23,864 Speaker 4: Yeah, I had the book, I had the app, I 375 00:22:23,984 --> 00:22:25,064 Speaker 4: donated money to it. 376 00:22:25,744 --> 00:22:28,144 Speaker 8: I went on all the Bell Gibs and rides. 377 00:22:28,584 --> 00:22:31,744 Speaker 1: So what was it all about? What was the Whole 378 00:22:31,784 --> 00:22:32,984 Speaker 1: Pantry a. 379 00:22:33,104 --> 00:22:37,784 Speaker 5: Recipe collection full of whole foods and vegetarian recipes, which 380 00:22:37,824 --> 00:22:40,504 Speaker 5: is the way that we encourage people to get back 381 00:22:40,544 --> 00:22:43,344 Speaker 5: to the fundamentals of eating more fruits and vegetables. 382 00:22:44,384 --> 00:22:47,744 Speaker 3: The Whole Pantry app was celebrated as a sleek database 383 00:22:47,784 --> 00:22:51,984 Speaker 3: full of thoughtful recipes accompanied by lifestyle tips and tricks, 384 00:22:52,304 --> 00:22:56,264 Speaker 3: wrapped up in a beautifully designed interface with the iconic 385 00:22:56,344 --> 00:23:01,544 Speaker 3: logo of two white leaves on a teal background. One 386 00:23:01,544 --> 00:23:07,664 Speaker 3: of the world's richest, most recognizable, most influential companies loved it. 387 00:23:08,424 --> 00:23:11,864 Speaker 3: Apple saw something in bell and she quickly found her 388 00:23:11,904 --> 00:23:15,224 Speaker 3: place in an elite inner circle of app developers who'd 389 00:23:15,264 --> 00:23:19,144 Speaker 3: won over the trust and loyalty of the global tech juggernaut. 390 00:23:20,024 --> 00:23:21,344 Speaker 1: When they realized what a hit. 391 00:23:21,304 --> 00:23:24,984 Speaker 3: Bells app was on iPhones, Apple made a bold decision 392 00:23:25,424 --> 00:23:29,704 Speaker 3: to incorporate the Whole Pantry as a preloaded application on 393 00:23:29,824 --> 00:23:34,024 Speaker 3: a brand new product, one that was set to revolutionize 394 00:23:34,024 --> 00:23:35,304 Speaker 3: the wearable tech space. 395 00:23:35,784 --> 00:23:40,984 Speaker 15: The Good Apple Watch is the most personal device we've 396 00:23:41,064 --> 00:23:45,504 Speaker 15: ever created. We set out to make the best watch 397 00:23:45,544 --> 00:23:50,144 Speaker 15: in the world. We love to make great products that 398 00:23:50,344 --> 00:23:54,824 Speaker 15: really enrich people's lives. We love to integrate hardware, software 399 00:23:54,864 --> 00:23:59,824 Speaker 15: and services seamlessly. We love to make technology more personal 400 00:24:00,584 --> 00:24:02,984 Speaker 15: and allow our users to do things that they could 401 00:24:03,064 --> 00:24:04,144 Speaker 15: never have imagined. 402 00:24:04,784 --> 00:24:08,344 Speaker 3: This was a big deal to have an Ossie app 403 00:24:08,384 --> 00:24:10,784 Speaker 3: in the position the whole pantry had found its self in, 404 00:24:11,224 --> 00:24:13,624 Speaker 3: and for that app to be in the wellness space, 405 00:24:14,304 --> 00:24:17,584 Speaker 3: it just hadn't been done before. Here's what Belle had 406 00:24:17,584 --> 00:24:19,104 Speaker 3: to say about what it was like to be on 407 00:24:19,144 --> 00:24:23,224 Speaker 3: the ground at Apple HQ and Koopatino for that very announcement. 408 00:24:23,584 --> 00:24:25,824 Speaker 5: You know, it took seven months worth of development, and 409 00:24:25,864 --> 00:24:28,824 Speaker 5: I put everything that I knew along my journey with cancer, 410 00:24:29,024 --> 00:24:32,464 Speaker 5: nutrition and wellness and put it on the most accessible 411 00:24:32,664 --> 00:24:38,144 Speaker 5: device possible, the iPhone, and it's just onwards and utwards 412 00:24:38,144 --> 00:24:41,424 Speaker 5: from there. With the Apple Watch, it's even more accessible 413 00:24:41,464 --> 00:24:44,224 Speaker 5: and it's an even more personal experience and more personal 414 00:24:44,304 --> 00:24:47,744 Speaker 5: journey to living the whole life and adopting the support 415 00:24:47,784 --> 00:24:50,944 Speaker 5: and the resources that we put there for you. My 416 00:24:51,184 --> 00:24:53,864 Speaker 5: developer and I had come over here four weeks ago 417 00:24:53,904 --> 00:24:58,024 Speaker 5: now and we've been working every day on our Apple 418 00:24:58,184 --> 00:25:00,824 Speaker 5: Watch app, and. 419 00:25:02,544 --> 00:25:04,144 Speaker 8: It's been hard. It's been hard. 420 00:25:04,144 --> 00:25:05,784 Speaker 5: It's been hard because of the jet lag has been 421 00:25:05,784 --> 00:25:08,704 Speaker 5: hard being a startup and dropped in amongst the twitters 422 00:25:08,704 --> 00:25:12,224 Speaker 5: and the BMW's of the world. But we're a static 423 00:25:12,264 --> 00:25:13,344 Speaker 5: with what we've come out with. 424 00:25:15,584 --> 00:25:19,144 Speaker 3: The world was at her feet, and a huge publishing 425 00:25:19,144 --> 00:25:22,264 Speaker 3: house took note. Bell signed a deal with Penguin Random 426 00:25:22,264 --> 00:25:24,824 Speaker 3: House to turn the best selling app into a book 427 00:25:25,264 --> 00:25:29,104 Speaker 3: filled with recipes and detailing Bell's moving story. 428 00:25:29,304 --> 00:25:31,984 Speaker 4: She was a complete well appeared to be the complete package. 429 00:25:32,184 --> 00:25:34,944 Speaker 4: You know, the big glowing smile and the beautiful hair 430 00:25:35,024 --> 00:25:39,184 Speaker 4: and the perfect skin, and you know, she seemed patient 431 00:25:39,224 --> 00:25:44,224 Speaker 4: and in control and also backed by all of these 432 00:25:44,384 --> 00:25:46,784 Speaker 4: people that thought that she was doing the right thing 433 00:25:46,824 --> 00:25:48,864 Speaker 4: as well. She had signed a deal with Penguin Books, 434 00:25:48,864 --> 00:25:51,704 Speaker 4: she had a contract with Apple. She of course she 435 00:25:52,424 --> 00:25:56,744 Speaker 4: was legit, because otherwise these companies wouldn't be backing her, 436 00:25:56,744 --> 00:25:59,024 Speaker 4: they wouldn't be a part of her story as well. 437 00:25:59,344 --> 00:26:06,304 Speaker 3: This was the peak of Bell's success, an app, a book, awards, followers, fame. 438 00:26:07,104 --> 00:26:09,704 Speaker 3: All of that brought her to the Wollomoloo Wharves that 439 00:26:09,784 --> 00:26:14,344 Speaker 3: twenty four teen day for Cosmo's Fun Fearless Awards, where 440 00:26:14,344 --> 00:26:18,864 Speaker 3: Belle took out the social media category, trying to take. 441 00:26:18,864 --> 00:26:19,944 Speaker 14: More credit views. 442 00:26:20,824 --> 00:26:22,344 Speaker 5: That's not the fearlessness in me. 443 00:26:23,904 --> 00:26:25,944 Speaker 1: But my partner has been the same to me through 444 00:26:26,024 --> 00:26:26,584 Speaker 1: a year now. 445 00:26:27,064 --> 00:26:29,864 Speaker 5: It's really strangely, really every morning for a long time 446 00:26:30,104 --> 00:26:31,344 Speaker 5: saying this is. 447 00:26:31,184 --> 00:26:33,984 Speaker 1: Strange, like you're waiting up to it. And he had 448 00:26:34,104 --> 00:26:35,504 Speaker 1: stadium full of people that. 449 00:26:37,184 --> 00:26:41,304 Speaker 5: Are watching her at remover, waiting on some form of 450 00:26:41,424 --> 00:26:45,704 Speaker 5: inspiration or advice or something for their dinner. 451 00:26:47,904 --> 00:26:50,744 Speaker 3: When her team suggested Bell Gibson as a nominee, Bronwyn 452 00:26:50,824 --> 00:26:52,424 Speaker 3: mccahn thought it was a no brainer. 453 00:26:52,544 --> 00:26:54,904 Speaker 7: So in that social media category, it was a varied 454 00:26:54,944 --> 00:26:58,264 Speaker 7: list of people in fitness and in fashion and beauty 455 00:26:58,304 --> 00:27:01,864 Speaker 7: and health and whatever else, and they pitched this girl 456 00:27:01,904 --> 00:27:04,464 Speaker 7: named Bell Gibson. Hadn't heard of her at that point, 457 00:27:05,024 --> 00:27:07,664 Speaker 7: so they had done their you know, due diligence, going, oh, 458 00:27:07,704 --> 00:27:09,984 Speaker 7: you know, and she's got you know, over two hundred 459 00:27:10,024 --> 00:27:13,544 Speaker 7: thousand followers and it's an amazing story because she's got 460 00:27:13,584 --> 00:27:17,464 Speaker 7: all of these cancers and rain humors and she's done 461 00:27:17,504 --> 00:27:20,544 Speaker 7: this app called The Whole Pantry and Apple are going 462 00:27:20,584 --> 00:27:23,344 Speaker 7: to put it on their next release of iPhone or 463 00:27:23,464 --> 00:27:27,144 Speaker 7: eyewatch or something, and I was like, wow, that's phenomenal, 464 00:27:27,224 --> 00:27:30,224 Speaker 7: Like what a story that this woman who's going through 465 00:27:30,224 --> 00:27:33,664 Speaker 7: so much, a mother of one and young, super young, 466 00:27:33,904 --> 00:27:36,184 Speaker 7: and going through all this medical stuff even has the 467 00:27:36,264 --> 00:27:40,064 Speaker 7: time or energy or anything to create this incredible app 468 00:27:40,064 --> 00:27:43,384 Speaker 7: that is being picked up by Apple Like this is unbelievable. 469 00:27:43,984 --> 00:27:45,224 Speaker 1: So we were like, yeah, great, she. 470 00:27:45,144 --> 00:27:48,424 Speaker 7: Sounds perfect to put in in the category under you know, 471 00:27:48,784 --> 00:27:49,544 Speaker 7: health wellbeing. 472 00:27:49,984 --> 00:27:50,504 Speaker 11: And that was that. 473 00:27:51,104 --> 00:27:52,904 Speaker 1: But that was not that. 474 00:27:53,624 --> 00:27:58,544 Speaker 3: An email pinged into journalists in boxes around the country 475 00:27:58,704 --> 00:28:02,704 Speaker 3: at the exact same time, and it said. 476 00:28:02,944 --> 00:28:05,504 Speaker 16: It has come to my attention that you have published 477 00:28:05,504 --> 00:28:07,784 Speaker 16: a story about a girl I have known for my 478 00:28:07,904 --> 00:28:12,224 Speaker 16: whole life. Her name is Belle Gibson, creator of the 479 00:28:12,264 --> 00:28:16,704 Speaker 16: Whole Pantry app and book, and a so called terminal 480 00:28:16,864 --> 00:28:21,424 Speaker 16: cancer patient. Unfortunately, there are a few things you might 481 00:28:21,504 --> 00:28:25,184 Speaker 16: need to know before you consider publishing more about this woman. 482 00:28:28,104 --> 00:28:32,464 Speaker 3: What that email went on to say would change everything 483 00:28:41,984 --> 00:28:44,464 Speaker 3: next time on Extraordinary Stories. 484 00:28:44,904 --> 00:28:47,944 Speaker 7: I can't remember the timeframe between the awards and when 485 00:28:47,944 --> 00:28:50,384 Speaker 7: the next thing happened, but maybe it was a couple 486 00:28:50,424 --> 00:28:53,624 Speaker 7: of months and the next thing. One of the girls 487 00:28:53,664 --> 00:28:55,224 Speaker 7: in the office came in and said, oh my god, 488 00:28:55,584 --> 00:29:01,424 Speaker 7: I've just received this email anonymous but basically from somebody 489 00:29:01,464 --> 00:29:05,824 Speaker 7: who's saying that they went to school with Belle and 490 00:29:05,864 --> 00:29:08,104 Speaker 7: that everything she's saying is a lie. 491 00:29:08,504 --> 00:29:11,104 Speaker 1: Her age is a lie, she doesn't have. 492 00:29:11,104 --> 00:29:14,784 Speaker 7: Cancer, she has no brain humors, everything is a lie. 493 00:29:15,224 --> 00:29:18,384 Speaker 7: And it had been sent to Cosmo and Cleo and 494 00:29:18,464 --> 00:29:21,424 Speaker 7: like all the magazines, so everyone had got it, and 495 00:29:21,464 --> 00:29:24,824 Speaker 7: I imagined it had also been sent to various journalists 496 00:29:24,824 --> 00:29:27,664 Speaker 7: at newspapers because everyone had got the same email from 497 00:29:27,664 --> 00:29:32,224 Speaker 7: this anonymous source. So we're like, God, a monthly magazine 498 00:29:32,304 --> 00:29:34,384 Speaker 7: is not going to be the magazine that breaks a 499 00:29:34,384 --> 00:29:37,984 Speaker 7: big story like this, because you've already got digital sites 500 00:29:38,024 --> 00:29:40,904 Speaker 7: and news sites and everything that have already received this email. 501 00:29:41,224 --> 00:29:45,664 Speaker 3: There was one newsroom with the time, resources and interest 502 00:29:45,904 --> 00:29:49,344 Speaker 3: to pursue this tip off, and not even they could 503 00:29:49,344 --> 00:29:54,864 Speaker 3: predict how Belle's empire of deception was about to unravel. 504 00:29:55,184 --> 00:29:56,784 Speaker 9: I think there is a bit of a pattern in 505 00:29:56,864 --> 00:29:59,784 Speaker 9: people who want to lie to you that they tell 506 00:29:59,864 --> 00:30:06,624 Speaker 9: you a partial truth and then it just dovetails from there. 507 00:30:07,024 --> 00:30:10,504 Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to this episode of Extraordinary Stories. 508 00:30:10,664 --> 00:30:12,944 Speaker 3: It was written and produced by me Emma Gillespie with 509 00:30:12,944 --> 00:30:16,824 Speaker 3: Holly Wainwright. Audio production is by Eliza Ratliff and Madeline 510 00:30:16,864 --> 00:30:20,664 Speaker 3: Joe Annau. The executive producers of Extraordinary Stories are Eliza 511 00:30:20,744 --> 00:30:22,104 Speaker 3: Ratliffe and Holly Wainwright. 512 00:30:30,624 --> 00:30:32,664 Speaker 2: To listen to part two, just click the link in 513 00:30:32,704 --> 00:30:33,384 Speaker 2: our show notes