Belle's age discrepancy

In the beginning, Belle is angry when the woman mistook her for 19 after the mommy and me group, when she's supposedly 23. Then towards the end, the interviewer asks Belle to clarify whether she was born in 1988 or 1991. Belle fumbles when she said it was misprinted once and ever since, its been misprinted several times but insistes she is 26 years old, not 23. Surely more than 4 years has passed. Was Belle 12 or 15 when she first "ran away" or otherwise left home to stay with her older supervisor for that short stint during her skating phase? She didnt look 12. What was her end game with lying about her age? Before I go down a google rabbit hole, does anybody know the real timeline or her motive with the age back story? I'd never heard of her before yesterday and just binged the show. Did she want to come across as a younger, more successful cancer survivor or a bit more mature mom in the beginning? Just all-around pathological liar is what I'm guessing?