Wellness blogger Belle Gibson has admitted lying about having cancer and curing it using natural therapies and diet.
The 23-year-old Queensland woman made the confession in an exclusive interview with .
Ms Gibson rose to fame in 2013 with claims she survived terminal brain cancer using natural therapies and diet. She developed a highly successful app called 'The Whole Pantry' and released a cookbook of the same name last year.
But earlier this year allegations surfaced that Ms Gibson had witheld thousands of dollars promised to charities and questions were raised about the veracity of her cancer claims. In an interview with she said she had been misdiagnosed as having cancers in her blood, spleen, uterus and liver but stood by her claim of having terminal brain cancer.
Now she has confessed to making the entire story up, telling , "None of it is true."
“I am still jumping between what I think I know and what is reality. I have lived it and I’m not really there yet,” she said.
She said she had agreed to the interview - which the magazine did not pay her for - as a way of starting over.
"I don't want forgiveness. I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do. Above anything, I would like people to say, 'Okay, she’s human. She's obviously had a big life. She's respectfully come to the table and said what she's needed to say, and now it's time for her to grow and heal," she said.
The mother-of-one did not give a reason for lying about her condition but said she had a tough childhood.
"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," she said.
Ms Gibson's partner Clive Rothwell is reportedly standing by her.
