Belle Gibson‘s Cancer Con

“Belle Gibson convinced the world she had healed herself from terminal brain cancer with a healthy diet.  She built a global business based upon her claims.  There was just one problem.  She’d never had cancer” – from back cover

Belle Gibson made herself into an Instagram sensation as a wellness hero, with over 200,000 followers. There was also a mobile phone app, and international book deals. She lied that she had had cancer and had cured herself with natural therapies. Unknown to everyone, including her family and friends, Belle was never a cancer sufferer.

Gibson had a wellness blog with many, many followers, who doted on her every word, taking her advice. People who were genuinely suffering from cancer, were doing exactly what Belle advised them to do to cure their cancer. Many cancer survivors gave up their traditional treatment to follow her advice.

In this book, we read about how Belle Gibson first became considered a health expert, tracking her rise to fame, and also her huge fall from grace. The authors interviewed people closest to her and her followers, to piece together the story. 

The story of Belle Gibson’s deception broke internationally, making world wide headlines. Devotees of alternative treatments and ‘the clean eating movement’ were also interviewed for the story. 

My Thoughts

So, the big question is how was Belle Gibson able to fool so many people all over the world and convince them that she had the answers to cure their cancers. I was very interested to read about what compels a person to deceive the public in such a way. I  found it so interesting and spell binding to read the evidence presented.

As a blogger, I found it really hard to believe that another blogger would be so fraudulent as to trick their readers with her lies. It’s even more unbelievable to think that they would also prey on cancer sufferers and convince them to follow her.

Equally shocking, is that so many of her friends, and people in the wellness industry enabled Gibson to commit fraud on the public. Until reading the authors evidence and following the trail of Belle Gibson that they presented, I really couldn’t imagine how someone could pull off such a huge fraud.

My Rating: 3.5/5 Stars  ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

About the authors

 Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano are the multi award winning journalists who originally uncovered Belle Gibson’s lies and broke the story.

Beau Donelly: Beau Donelly is a multi-award-winning journalist who covered social affairs for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. His news-breaking and investigative skills have been recognised by the United Nations and the Melbourne Press Club. Donelly has been awarded for an exposé on illegal brothels, coverage of clergy sex-abuse trials, and reporting on disability issues. He has also been a finalist for Australian journalism’s highest honour, the Walkley Award. Donelly has a Bachelor of Journalism from Monash University, and is based in Europe. – Scribe Publications

Nick Toscano: Nick Toscano is a multi-award-winning journalist based in Melbourne, who specialises in federal politics, business workplace relations, and the labour movement for The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald. He has been awarded the the Grant Hattam Quill for Investigative Journalism, and has twice received the highest honour in Australian journalism, the Walkley Award, for exposing the country’s biggest-ever underpayment scandal. Toscano has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Melbourne and a Masters in Journalism from RMIT. – Scribe Publications