Who is Clive Rothwell? | The Irish Sun

BELLE Gibson’s deadly deception has been exposed in a new ITVX documentary called The Search For Instagram’s Worst Con Artist.

One name associated with Gibson and her web of lies is Clive Rothwell. But who is he and how was he involved in the former influencer’s fraud? Here you will find everything you need to know.

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Who is Clive Rothwell?

Rumor has it that Clive Rothwell was once engaged to “wellness guru” Belle Gibson, who built a successful business by falsely claiming she had cancer.

However, when Gibson appeared in court in 2019, she swore under oath that she knew little about Rothwell – including what he did for a living, namely as an IT consultant.

However, sources reported The Daily Mail that he acted as her child’s stepfather.

And it was reported by the post that he “paid her legal fees, including $5,500 for attorneys who represented her in federal court.”

How was Clive Rothwell connected to Belle Gibson?

In 2009, Belle Gibson’s web of lies began.

Gibson claimed she underwent three heart surgeries during which she died on the operating table twice, and when she woke up she was given a prognosis that she had an inoperable brain tumor and had just six months to live.

A post Belle wrote when she first started her health insurance stated: “Five years ago today, I sat in front of a man who was about to tell me that I would die in six months from malignant brain cancer.”

In the years that followed, the twisted woman would conjure up a devious backstory that appealed to cancer victims around the world to build her brand.

She claimed to endure two months of grueling chemotherapy and radiotherapy before giving it up to research alternative medicine as a cure.

Four years later, she claimed that nutrition and holistic medicine combined with vitamin and oxygen therapy would cure her naturally – and that they could do the same for other cancer patients.

Belle inspired more than 300,000 followers and developed an app – The Whole Pantry – and a companion cookbook in 2013.

In the book, she informed her readers that a doctor had told her that she had cancer: “You are dying. You have six weeks. Four months at most.”

The app was downloaded 200,000 times in its first month and quickly reached #1 in the App Store in its first month.

The success led to her moving into a £582,200 beachfront home, buying a new BMW X3 and having her teeth cosmetically corrected.

It seemed like her wellness empire was untouchable – until it all came crashing down for the blogger in 2015.

The scammer had previously claimed that 95 percent of her app proceeds were donated to charity and claimed she worked with 20 organizations.

Belle was contacted by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, who asked for a definitive list of the amounts donated to the charities and specific information about her health.

This was found out after it emerged that she had not donated any money to charity despite claiming to have.

After Belle’s lies were exposed, a high-profile lawsuit followed in 2017.

Gibson’s recipe book was also withdrawn from Penguin and her app was removed from its online store by Apple.

She was found guilty of five breaches of consumer law and fined $410,000 (£240,000).

Rothwell was identified by Gibson as the person who had been funding her lifestyle since her deadly deception was exposed.

When Gibson appeared in federal court, she swore she knew little about Clive – who is believed to have screwed her over thousands.

He reportedly paid for lavish trips abroad, paid her legal fees and financed her lifestyle.

Does Belle Gibson have children?

Gibson has one child – a son named Oliver.

Gibson’s son was born in July 2010, but the identity of Oliver’s father has not been publicly revealed.

Rothwell reportedly acted as a stepfather to him.