Belle Gibson's Partner Clive Rothwell Stayed Under the Radar After Her Scandal

Now that Apple Cider Vinegar is available on Netflix, more people are learning the story of Belle Gibson, or revisiting it more than a decade later. Belle, a wellness influencer, falsely claimed that she had been diagnosed with brain cancer, and then claimed that she was able to cure the illness through diet and natural remedies.

Many are fascinated in part by Ashley Zukerman's portrayal of Clive Rothwell, Belle's real-life partner through all of this drama. Many want to know what happened to Clive in its aftermath. Here's what we know.

Clive Rothwell was not a very public person in spite of his partner's high profile. Most of what we know about Clive comes through court statements that Belle made in the aftermath of the scandal, but we do know that he was reportedly an IT consultant, as the show suggests, and that he had a close relationship with both Belle and her son. Belle's court statements leave us little else to go on, as she was pretty secretive about their relationship, and even denied that it was romantic.

Belle said that even though the two of them lived together, they were not in a relationship. That report was contradicted by Chanelle McAuliffe, one of Belle's friends, who called Clive her "partner" in an interview with .

As we see in the series, Clive decides to stay with Belle in the aftermath of the scandal, even in spite of all the insanity it brought about.

What's less clear, though, is whether the two are still together today. In 2023, The Daily Mail obtained photos of Clive with another woman, and while he still lives in Australia, we don't know whether the two of them are living together. He has not acknowledged his portrayal in Apple Cider Vinegar, and given how reluctant he has been to speak in public generally, it seems unlikely that he's going to offer any more detail on his life today.

Belle Gibson's story is one of the more infamous examples of clout chasing in the history of the internet, and it's dramatic enough that there's not much need for additional embellishment. One of the series' changes, though, is the creation of a character named Milla Blake who embodies much of what Bella wants to be, at least for a time.

Milla is an invented character, but she seems to share some similarities with Jessica Ainscough, a woman who was diagnosed with epithelioid sarcoma at 22 and wrote about her experience, the same way Milla does in the series. It's unclear why the show chooses to invent a character.

Generally speaking, though, it seems much of what happens in the series is based on true accounts from Belle or those around her. Of course, given Belle's history of living about her life, it might not necessarily be the most reliable information, but it's the best we have to go on, and it makes for a good story. As for Clive's role in the story, it seems he wants as little attention as possible.