‘Apple Cider Vinegar’, rainy summer days and plant foraging

A bit of a mish mash of things this week.

There are a few things I’m excited to write about this week, rather than wait for the monthly crumbs.

I’ve had a birthday, started a new short course, visited a beachy destination during a rainy weekend and almost-binge-watched a new television series, shot in Melbourne.

Read on for more.

Credit: Netflix.

‘Apple Cider Vinegar’

I picked up The Woman Who Fooled the World a few years ago and was fascinated by its story, despite already being pretty familiar with the facts.

For those not, the book is about Belle Gibson, an Australian influencer who lied about having cancer online, then went on to launch a wellness empire. Follow that up with a massive fall from grace and I guess you have quite the tale.

And now a TV show based on the book has hit Netflix – Apple Cider Vinegar (2025). It stars American actor Kaitlyn Dever as Belle, doing one of the most convincing Australian accents I’ve ever heard. Home-grown talent Alicia Debian-Carey plays ‘Milla’, another wellness guru who unlike Belle, actually does have cancer, and uses her platform to promote alternative medicine. Milla is based on Jessica Ainscough, an Australian wellness influencer who having been diagnosed with an extremely rare cancer at 22, died seven years later. She refused doctor-recommended treatment, turning to alternative medicine instead.