AFL WAG Kellie Finlayson slams comparisons to Aussie conwoman Belle Gibson

An AFL player’s beloved wife, who is suffering from terminal cancer, has revealed she’s been compared to conwoman Belle Gibson.

Kellie Finlayson says being compared to cancer conwoman Belle Gibson feels like a “big punch to the face” and makes her feel “physically ill”.

Finlayson, the wife of Port Adelaide forward Jeremy Finlayson, is battling terminal bowel cancer and has spoken publicly about her cancer journey.

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The 29-year-old went public with her stage-four diagnosis in 2021 just a few months after giving birth to her daughter.

Convicted wellness fraudster Gibson, the subject of a new Netflix series, Apple Cider Vinegar, made headlines when it was revealed she had falsely claimed to have been diagnosed with brain cancer that was cured through nutrition and alternative therapies.

Finlayson has revealed she is frequently likened to Gibson, who built a wellness empire on the false claim that she had cured her terminal cancer through alternative medicine.

Gibson is still being chased by Consumer Affairs Victoria for the $410,000 she was ordered to pay in 2017 for misleading and deceptive conduct.

On Tuesday, Finlayson shared a screenshot of Gibson’s infamous 60 Minutes interview with the caption: “You wicked evil woman. Disgusting.”

Kellie Finlayson was diagnosed with stage-four bowel cancer in 2021 at the age of 25, three months after welcoming her daughter, Sophia.

Belle Gibson appears on 60 Minutes to apologise for faking having brain cancer. Picture: Facebook / 60 Minutes

In a video posted to Instagram, Finlayson said comparisons she had received because she sought alternative therapies, were deeply “offensive”.

“I know I’m in the majority of people that hate this woman, and I won’t even say her name, because she’s gotten too much attention brought to her,” she said.

“I have this depth of hate towards her and I don’t hate anyone.

“But the way she is irks me and I know she irks so many others … I’ve been referred to as this woman’s name countless times, several times a week even.

“It’s a big punch to the face. It’s kicking me while I’m down.

“Having these docos and this Netflix series come out about all the of the hurt she caused, all of the lies she told … and then being referred to her as her name simply because I’ve sought alternate therapies, or I look really well … but being called this woman’s name is offensive – it’s abusive almost.

“Having gone through the things that she described … or pretended to have gone through and the way she manipulated people around her to empathise and to give her so much … it makes me physically ill.”

Speaking on NOVA’s Head Game podcast with Ant Middleton last year, Finlayson revealed the reality of living with cancer.

“My thoughts were complete mush. I was in complete denial,” she recalled of her reaction to being diagnosed.

“I’d never heard of cancer being linked to anyone younger than my grandparents.

“I kind of had to try and process that, while also trying to keep my head strong, funnily enough, so that my husband didn’t crumble, because I needed him to be able to parent as well.

“I lost a s*** ton of weight. I mean, I had a stoma, so I had a foreign object on my stomach.

“I wasn’t the normal mum that she should have had, but I was as good as I possibly could be. It was hard.

“I was allergic to one of the strands of that chemotherapy, which is why, when I did relapse, I had to change chemotherapy, which meant I lost my hair.

“I was on my deathbed. I was getting anaphylactic reactions every three weeks to this chemotherapy. So I was essentially dying every three weeks, just to get better.

“Then in December that year, so a few months later, I relapsed, and it was in my lung, it was in my pelvis, it was in my stomach, it was everywhere.

“I mopped that all up with chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Was doing really well, was really stable but I’ve never been ‘no evidence of disease’ since then, but I’ve been really stable and being able to live a life like an actual life, and not being on my deathbed each week.”

Kellie and Jeremy Finlayson with their daughter Sophia in Adelaide. Picture Mark Brake

Jeremy Finlayson with daughter Sophia at the AFL Indigenous All Stars Game. Photo: Instagram.

She revealed the toll the ongoing treatment had taken on her and explained how knowing she has a finite time left has changed her approach to life.

“My new oncologist has just managed to, I guess, make sure quality of life is also met, knowing that I’m going to be living with this for the rest of my life likely,” she said.

She added she is focusing on living day to day and not being “defined by disease”.

“I know that it’s a huge portion of who I am, and I have to be near my doctors and I need to be close to a hospital, whatever it may be,” she said.

“But I really pride myself in thriving with cancer. I do everything that I possibly can. I’m still working, I’m still advocating for this disease that I’m quite literally being treated for.

“I am still parenting really quite well. I’m doing all the things that a normal parent would do for the most part, and I feel like if I lived each day or day-by-day, then I’m doing a disservice.

“I want to make sure that I’m alive for a reason … if I’m alive, I might as well live.

“I’m living on borrowed time. I need to make the most of it.”

Finlayson recently announced she would be releasing a new book, ‘There Must Be More’, set to be released in April.

Who is Belle Gibson?
The launch of her “wellness and lifestyle” app in 2013, The Whole Pantry, marked the peak of Gibson’s success.

It was downloaded by 200,000 users within 30 days of launch and, alongside a book deal, earnt Gibson an estimated $420,000.

After making claims to donate around 25 per cent of her company’s profits to charity, a Fairfax investigation in 2015 revealed the fraudster had only donated a meagre $6,000 from her total earnings.

It was also later found that she had fabricated her cancer diagnosis.

In 2017, the then-25-year-old was found to have breached Australian consumer law in Victoria’s federal court.

In the civil case brought by Consumer Affairs Victoria, the fraudster was found in breach of the law over claims that she would donate proceeds from her book and app sales to charity, which never occurred.

Originally published as AFL WAG Kellie Finlayson slams comparisons to Aussie conwoman Belle Gibson