[4][5] In March 2015, after reports identified Gibson's fraudulent claims regarding her charitable donations, media investigation found that she had also fabricated her stories of cancer and lied about her age, personal life and history.

Concerns were expressed that Gibson had led a profligate lifestyle by renting an upmarket town house, leasing a luxury car and office space, undergoing cosmetic dental procedures, purchasing designer clothes, and holidaying internationally.

[6] With a collapsing social media support base, Gibson admitted in an April 2015 interview that her claims of having multiple cancers had been fabricated, stating that "none of it's true".

[12] Gibson attended Wynnum State High School in Manly, Queensland, until dropping out in Year 10,[13] although she also later claimed to have been homeschooled.

[14] She worked for some time as a trainee for catering supply company PFD Food Services in Lytton,[15] but social media posts show that by late 2008 she had relocated to Perth, Western Australia.

[22] Gibson chronicled her battle with cancer on a blog of the same name, but "doubts about her claims surfaced after she failed to deliver a promised $300,000 donation to a charity".

[1] Gibson's and The Whole Pantry's statements regarding the benefits of exercise, healthy eating and a positive mindset were considered to be uncontroversial, being widely acknowledged as conducive to holistic well-being.

However, on her now-deleted Instagram account and in other social media, Gibson also promoted controversial or potentially dangerous alternative medical practices, including Gerson therapy,[28] anti-vaccination, and the consumption of non-pasteurised raw milk.

[27][30] Gibson denied the charges,[31] but Fairfax Media stated that she had "failed to hand over proceeds solicited in the name of five charities" and had "grossly overstated the company's total donations to different causes".

[18] Two charities confirmed to The Australian newspaper that Gibson's company had used their names in fundraising drives but had either failed to deliver the donations or had inadequately accounted for the funds.

[32] Gibson had claimed on a number of occasions in 2014 that The Whole Pantry had donated approximately $300,000 to charities, including maternal healthcare in developing nations, medical support for children with cancer, and funding schools in sub-Saharan Africa.

[33] In late 2014, when The Whole Pantry app was pre-installed on the Apple iPad, Gibson claimed through her Instagram account to be working with twenty different charities.

[41] Soon after, as the controversy grew, Penguin withdrew the book from sale, citing a lack of response from Gibson to its queries about the media accusations.

However, Fairfax reported that Penguin had, prior to publication of the book, already quizzed and videotaped Gibson on her cancer story, as recounted in the preface.

[42] Penguin agreed to pay A$30,000 to the Victorian Consumer Law Fund as a penalty for having failed to validate that the book was true.

[46] However, a month earlier, Cosmopolitan's associate editor had stated that they "put forward the nomination myself", indicating that the magazine – not the public – had been instrumental in promoting Gibson's award.

Around the same time, individual postings about Gibson's cancer, and claims of having died briefly while under heart surgery, were also being selectively deleted by the administrator of her blog "at the request of a user".

Gibson attributed her deceit to her upbringing, and specifically to neglect by her now-estranged mother, claiming to having been forced to take care of herself and her brother since the age of five.

The regulator said it had conducted an in-depth investigation of Gibson's activities and applied to Australia's Federal Court for leave to pursue legal action.

Gibson's publisher, Penguin Australia agreed to pay $30,000 to the Victorian Consumer Law Fund as a penalty for releasing The Whole Pantry without fact checking.