Is Milla Blake from “Apple Cider Vinegar” Based on a Real Person? All About the Inspiration Behind the Character

Netflix is putting a spotlight on Belle Gibson’s lies with its new series Apple Cider Vinegar.

Touting itself as a “true-ish story based on a lie,” the series details how wellness influencer Gibson quickly rose to fame on social media by claiming that she healed herself from terminal brain cancer by means of a healthy lifestyle.

While several elements of the true story are dramatized for the series, many of the characters are based on real people. However, as the show notes, several names have been changed.

One particular character that many are thinking is based on a real person is Milla Blake (played by Alycia Debnam-Carey). In the series, she serves as the influencer rival to Gibson as she details her real journey of trying to treat her cancer through holistic means.

Though Gibson did not have a frenemy named Milla Blake in real life, the character is loosely based on a real person the influencer came into contact with.

Here’s everything to know about the real inspiration behind Milla Blake.

Who is Milla Blake based on in real life?

The character Milla is loosely inspired by Jessica Ainscough, an Australian teen magazine editor who became a wellness entrepreneur after being diagnosed with a rare cancer at age 22.

Similar to Milla’s story on the show, Ainscough was diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma in 2008 following a biopsy of lumps from her left arm. She eventually explored other options of treatment, including Gerson Therapy, which involves a diet based on the theory “that disease can be cured by removing toxins from the body, boosting the immune system and replacing excess salt in the body's cells with potassium,” per the National Cancer Institute. Gerson Therapy is not scientifically proven, but Ainscough claimed it worked for her.

She quickly gained a following online as she documented her cancer journey, giving herself the nickname The Wellness Warrior, which was also the title of her blog. Through Wellness Warrior events, she would invite other celebrity wellness entrepreneurs to share their similar stories.

What happened to Jessica Ainscough?

There are many other elements of Ainscough’s story that align with Milla's on the series. Notably, her mother Sharyn Ainscough was also diagnosed with cancer in 2011 and partook in Gerson Therapy like her daughter. Her mother eventually died in October 2013, two-and-half years after her diagnosis.

Also like Milla on the series, Ainscough found love amid her cancer journey. Though he’s named Arlo on the series, Ainscough had a fiancé named Tallon Pamenter at the time of her death. After getting engaged in 2014, the two were in the middle of planning their wedding as her cancer worsened.

In February 2015, Ainscough died, seven years after her initial diagnosis, as reported by The Guardian at the time. The following month, Pamenter paid tribute to his late fiancée on Instagram, calling her his “best friend, my biggest cheer leader, my greatest inspiration, my rock and the constant love of my life.”

“The thing that I am most thankful to Jess for, is teaching me how to love another with all of my heart and soul,” he wrote. “We experienced something that I believe very few people ever get to experience in their lifetime... In fact many lifetimes. To say that we loved each other would simply be scratching the surface…”

In the years since Ainscough’s death, Pamenter has found love again and gotten married. He and his wife are currently expecting their first child together. He has continued to remember Ainscough through heartfelt posts on social media.

Were Belle Gibson and Jessica Ainscough friends?

Though the Netflix series sets them up as frenemies, in real life, Gibson and Ainscough were not friends. The book The Woman Who Fooled the World, which inspired the Netflix series, states that they briefly met at a conference outside of Melbourne where Gibson approached her about her Whole Pantry app.

Despite limited contact with one another, Gibson did attend Ainscough’s funeral in 2015, as reported by an Australian publication, the Sydney Morning Herald.

Did Jessica Ainscough’s manager try to sabotage Belle Gibson?

The character of Chanelle is seemingly based on two different characters, Ainscough’s manager who disputed their friendship and Gibson’s actual friend Chanelle McAuliffe, who played a pivotal role in exposing Gibson’s lies.

As shown on the series, McAuliffe grew suspicious of Gibson and her diagnosis after the influencer had a seizure at her son’s birthday party.

She revealed in the ITV1 documentary, Instagram's Worst Con Artist, that she eventually addressed Gibson about her cancer diagnosis following the incident. However, when the influencer failed to come clean, McAuliffe went to reporters to uncover the story.

“Finally, a journalist from The Age phoned me. I began telling him everything I knew, the little details that didn't add up,” she explained. “The journalist began to believe that her charity claims were also fraudulent. They then confirmed with charities that they had not received any donations, so then we knew we had the story, we knew once that broke the rest would unravel.”

Read the original article on People