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Pete Evans

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Pete Evans
Pete Evans profile photo 2015
Evans in 2015
Born
Peter Daryl Evans

(1973-08-29) 29 August 1973 (age 51)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
NationalityAustralian
Other namesPaleo Pete
Occupations
  • Chef
  • restaurateur
  • author
  • television presenter
Years active1993–present
Known forMy Kitchen Rules
Political partyThe Great Australian Party[1]
Spouse
Nicola Robinson
​
(m. 2016)​
PartnerAstrid Ellinger (2001–2011)
Children2
Websitepeteevanschef.com
This article is part of a series on
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Peter Daryl Evans (born 29 August 1973[citation needed]) is an Australian chef, and former television presenter, who was a judge of the competitive cooking show My Kitchen Rules. Evans has been heavily criticised for spreading misinformation about vaccinations, promoting conservative political rhetoric, sharing conspiracy theories with followers and pseudoscientific dieting ideas such as the paleolithic diet. He lives in Round Mountain, New South Wales.

Career

[edit]

Restaurateur/chef

[edit]

In 1996, Evans moved to Sydney with his brother and David Corsi and they opened Hugos Bondi in 1996, followed by Hugos Lounge in 2000 and Hugos Bar Pizza in 2004 (both in Sydney's Kings Cross) and Hugos Manly in 2008.[2] Over 1998–2011, the restaurants in the Hugos Group were awarded eight Sydney Morning Herald 'Chef's Hats', 21 'Best in Australia' awards, and three 'Best pizza in Australia' awards at the Australian Fine Food Show. In 2005, Hugos won 'Best pizza in the world' at the American Pizza Challenge in New York City.[3]

While visiting Australia for her Oprah's Ultimate Australian Adventure (2011), Oprah Winfrey sent her 'ultimate viewers' for a pizza-making and cocktail class with Evans at Hugos Bar Pizza.[4] Evans has cooked at several events in the US as part of the annual G'Day USA: Australia Week promotion.[5] In 2013 Pete Evans was involved in a venture with several business partners that were reported to owe $769,000 to a multitude of different creditors, including Evans himself.[6] In 2014, Evans overhauled the menu at the CBD apartment hotel Fraser Suites in Perth in keeping with his paleo philosophy.[7]

Television host

[edit]

Beginning in 2010, Evans was a judge on the Australian Channel Seven TV kitchen game show My Kitchen Rules (MKR).[8] with co-host Manu Feildel. The fourth series of MKR was shown in 2013.[9] In 2014 the series won the Logie Award for the Most Popular Reality Program. Evans remained a judge on MKR throughout its run, which in 2015 was the highest rated reality television competition in Australia with about two million weekly viewers.[10][11][12] Evans also hosted the show A Moveable Feast with Fine Cooking, which aired on PBS in the United States, which was nominated in 2014 for a Daytime Emmy Award. The show first aired in 2013, in which "Evans takes viewers on a faced-paced trip, serving pop-up feasts in a multitude of settings across America".[13]

In 2017, Evans produced and narrated a Netflix documentary called The Magic Pill, which promoted the ketogenic diet, and claimed that it can help manage autism, asthma and cancer.[14]

In May 2020, Evans' contract with Channel Seven was terminated after poor ratings from the eleventh season of My Kitchen Rules, and the TGA fining him A$25,000 for promoting a device he claimed could cure COVID-19. Channel Seven has not announced whether Evans would appear on the network in the future. Evans has stated he will now be focusing on his alternative lifestyle business.[15][16]

Author

[edit]

Evans had a monthly recipe column in The Australian Women's Weekly (2009–12) and has been a contributor to Selector magazine.[17] In October 2012, Evans began a monthly recipe column for Home Beautiful.[18] Evans has stated that the philosophy behind his books is that modern society is living by outdated nutritional precepts. Evans is also a motivational speaker, performing national tours in Australia. He first learned of the paleo-diet after reading the works of Nora Gedgaudas.[19][20][21]

Some of his claims on fluoride and calcium have been challenged by the Australian Medical Association.[22]

Evans has written the following books, most published by Murdoch Books:

  • Fish (2007) ISBN 978-1-921208-58-4
  • My Table (2008) ISBN 978-1-74196-240-6
  • My Grill (2009) ISBN 978-1-74196-543-8
  • My Party (2010) ISBN 978-1-74196-816-3
  • My Kitchen (2011) ISBN 978-1-74196-828-6
  • Pizza (2012) ISBN 978-1-74266-154-4
  • Healthy Every Day (2014) ISBN 978-1-74261-389-5
  • Easy Keto (2019) ISBN 9781760781811

Criticisms

[edit]

Evans' championing of alternative medicines and "activated almonds" has attracted criticism from peak medical bodies throughout Australia. In particular, his support for the paleo diet has brought about criticism from the public.[23][24][25] Evans has stated that he completed an online course with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, and describes himself as a "health coach" rather than a dietitian.[26]

In 2015, Evans co-authored a cookbook titled Bubba Yum Yum: The Paleo Way for New Mums, Babies and Toddlers which raised controversy after being called "extremely deadly for all babies" by health experts.[27] Despite the controversy, My Kitchen Rules broadcaster, the Seven Network, said that public reactions to the event were not a concern and supported Evans. Following the controversy, the authors made several changes to the book, but experts noted that the recipes in the new version were still potentially dangerous for babies.[28]

Evans is the first person to win the Australian Skeptics' Bent Spoon Award twice, most recently in 2020 when he won for the second time for his promotion of the pseudoscientific non-medical BioCharger for treating COVID-19, and for his promotion of the anti-vaccination cause, through interviewing defrocked medico Andrew Wakefield to discuss his debunked suggestion of a link between vaccines and autism, and his support of the Informed Medical Options Party in the Queensland state election.[29] He also won the award in 2015 for "his diet promotions, campaigns against fluoridation and support of anti-vaccinationists".[30] A spokeswoman for the Seven Network defended Evans saying: "Pete is not anti-vaxx. His position on this, and more generally, is to further his own education on all topics regarding health."[31]

In 2016, Evans gave advice to an osteoporosis sufferer on Facebook to stop eating dairy products. His claims that the "calcium from dairy can remove the calcium from your bones" and that "most doctors do not know about this" were widely condemned by medical professionals.[32]

In 2018, Evans furthered his opposition to the use of sunscreens, and promoted brief and direct looks into the sun without any means of protection, during sunrise and sunsets, which drew criticism as it can cause vision loss.[33]

Evans is opposed to fluoridation of drinking water,[34] and considers ingredients in many sunscreen products to be toxic.[35][36]

High-profile Australian medical experts have warned about the grave dangers of following Evans' advice, including Michael Gannon (the president of the Australian Medical Association), Brad McKay (host of Embarrassing Bodies Down Under)[37] and obstetrician Brad Robinson.[38]

In 2019, Evans was criticised by medical experts for spreading misinformation about vaccinations.[39]

In early 2020, it was reported that Evans had been photographed with prominent anti-vaxxer Robert F. Kennedy Jr[31][40] admiring his work as "important". GP Brad McKay said that "Pete Evans has peddled nonsense for years" and that the community "has tolerated his anti-science rantings for long enough" and that he is contributing to an "undermining of important public health efforts".[40] The national president of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Harry Nespolon, also responded that "Pete Evans should stick to talking about 'activated almonds' and leave vaccinations alone", adding that the anti-vax movement is "intensely frustrating" and undermining gains made in improving public health.[41]

Evans complained that comments Nespolon made about him had subjected him to being "laughed at and ridiculed". After the president died due to pancreatic cancer, Evans quipped that Nespolon didn’t know how to "deal with" his illness, and wished the doctor had a chat with him beforehand. The RACGP called on Evans to retract his comments.[42]

In May 2020, Evans received criticism from Australian Labor MP Josh Burns for promoting a video by conspiracy theorist David Icke which claimed both that the COVID-19 virus did not exist and that the virus was caused by 5G antenna installations. Burns wrote to Evans to warn him about promoting Icke's views because of Icke's history of antisemitism.[43]

In October 2020, Evans claimed he had helped a number of people come through cancer by "looking through a holistic lens" and embracing both "modern and natural" medicine, and had also helped people "get off pharmaceutical drugs" and reversed terminal illnesses by using a "holistic approach".[42]

In December 2020, Evans' Facebook page was removed by Facebook for "repeated breaches of its misinformation and harm policies" regarding spreading misinformation about coronavirus.[44] In February 2021, Facebook deleted his Instagram profile page also for COVID-19 misinformation breaches.[45]

Controversies

[edit]

BioCharger NG

[edit]

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Evans was criticised by peak Australian medical groups for attempting to promote a product claimed to cure COVID 19. Evans had been promoting a "subtle energy platform" product online called the BioCharger NG for AUD$15,000, which he claimed had a "recipe ... there for Wuhan coronavirus." The Australian Medical Association dismissed it as a "fancy light machine" and Mandy-Lee Noble, a dietician and member of Friends of Science in Medicine, said it "is a glorified plasma lamp," adding "it's probably no threat to people but if people think this in any way will treat or prevent COVID-19 infection, that risks our community response to the pandemic, that is dangerous, it's an indirect harm." Noble called on the TGA and Brad Hazzard (Health Minister in the New South Wales government) to take action.[46][47] The TGA announced that it would investigate the product promoted by Evans "in relation to any illegal advertising of therapeutic products, including advertising on social media." Moreover, the TGA warned that the advertising of therapeutic goods needed to meet certain requirements.[48] The creators of the product distanced themselves from Evans' claims, whilst the Australian distributors, Hydrogen Technologies Pty Ltd, continued to state that it would help "open the airways of Coronavirus victims by reducing the inflammation it causes in the lungs" as well as other therapeutic claims.[49][50]

After investigation, the TGA issued two infringement notices to Peter Evans Chef Pty Ltd totalling AUD$25,200. The notices mentioned that the infringements were in "respect of the representation made in the live stream/video" and "advertising breaches on the website www.peteevans.com" where it was said the "BioCharger included claims such as: "proven to restore strength, stamina, co-ordination and mental clarity," "sharpening your mental clarity," "recovery ... from an injury, stress" and "accelerating muscle recovery and reducing stiffness in joints."[51]

In May 2021, the TGA handed-down an $80,000 fine to Evans for repeated breaches.[52]

Black Sun symbolism

[edit]
The Black Sun symbol

In November 2020, Evans came under criticism for sharing a picture incorporating the "Black Sun" on his social media platforms – a symbol widely used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists. This particular design was used by the Christchurch mosque shooter in his propaganda. This resulted in Evans being dropped by his book publisher Pan Macmillan,[53][54] major retailers such as Coles, Woolworths, Target, Kmart, Big W and Dymocks ceased to stock his products and brand associations were dropped with Baccarat and House.[55][56]

This controversy also resulted in him being dropped as an intended contestant on season seven of Network 10's reality series, I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here![57]

Personal life

[edit]

Evans has two daughters from his previous relationship with Astrid Ellinger.[58] Evans previously lived in Sydney in the suburb of North Bondi[59] before purchasing a $1.2 million farm in Round Mountain, northern New South Wales, in 2015.[60] In 2016, Evans married model Nicola Robinson.[61]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "'Dangerous publicity stunt': Expert slams Pete Evans' run for Senate". The Feed. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  2. ^ Conroy, Shane (March 2010). "No Reservations". Virgin Blue Voyeur.
  3. ^ "Hugos Awards". Hugos Group. 4 September 2012. Archived from the original on 17 December 2008.
  4. ^ "New South Wales Itinerary". Oprah.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013.
  5. ^ "Diaz to enjoy a dose of Australiana". 9 News. 15 January 2010. Archived from the original on 1 May 2010.
  6. ^ Houston, Cameron; Vedelago, Chris (27 October 2013). "Peter Evans' dish of the day is debt". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 27 August 2020.
  7. ^ Emery, Kate (12 July 2014). "Pete's Paleo Diet Rules". The West Australian. Archived from the original on 27 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Pete Evans". au.tv.yahoo.com. 2011. Archived from the original on 24 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  9. ^ "Seven announces fourth MKR series". au.tv.yahoo.com/news. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  10. ^ Knox, David (27 April 2014). "Logie Awards 2014: Winners". TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 April 2014.
  11. ^ Chandra, Jessica. "My Kitchen Rules' Pete Evans Says, "I Judge the Food, Not the Contestants"". Popsugar.com.au. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  12. ^ "My Kitchen Rules Co-host Pete Evans Reveals the Reality Juggernauts Recipe for Success". Dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  13. ^ Styles, Aja (2 May 2014). "Pete Evans' A Moveable Feast nominated for Daytime Emmy". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  14. ^ Zhou, Naaman (3 June 2018). "Pete Evans' documentary should be cut from Netflix, doctors group says". The Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 6 June 2018.
  15. ^ Hornery, Andrew. "Seven axes Pete Evans from $800,000 My Kitchen Rules role". The Age. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Pete Evans and Channel 7 part ways after TV chef was fined $25,000 by TGA". News.com.au. 8 May 2020. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020.
  17. ^ "Cooking in the Rockies with Pete Evans". Archived from the original on 12 April 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  18. ^ "Pete Evans - 'The Italian job'". Home Beautiful. No. October. Archived from the original on 8 September 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  19. ^ Baker, Fiona (2 November 2014). "Pete Evans on why he thinks we're living by outdated nutritional rules". Whimn - Body+Soul. Archived from the original on 18 July 2016.
  20. ^ Wilden, Necia (19 July 2014). "The Six Foods Pete Evans Never Stocks at Home". The Australian. Archived from the original on 18 December 2017.
  21. ^ "Celebrity Chef Pete Evans Explains Why He Went Paleo and Shares His Paleo Burger Recipe". The Daily Telegraph. 12 July 2014. Archived from the original on 14 November 2016.
  22. ^ Meade, Amanda (27 March 2017). "AMA accuses Pete Evans of endangering lives with unscientific health advice". The Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 29 April 2017.
  23. ^ Shrapnel, Bill (28 July 2014). "Pete Evans is clueless about nutrition". The Sceptical Nutritionist. Archived from the original on 3 September 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  24. ^ Bagshaw, Eryk (30 September 2014). "My Kitchen Rules chef Pete Evans raises heat over Paleo diet". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  25. ^ "Expert dismisses Pete Evans' claims that modern diet causes autism". Australian Women's Weekly. 1 October 2014. Archived from the original on 2 October 2014.
  26. ^ AAP (21 August 2014). "MasterChef and My Kitchen Rules hosts 'not qualified to give dietary advice'". The Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 6 August 2018.
  27. ^ Regan, Helen (11 March 2015). "Celebrity Chef's Paleo Cookbook for Babies Delayed After Health Fears". Time. Archived from the original on 7 March 2016.
  28. ^ Dunlevy, Sue (24 April 2015). "Pete Evans: paleo cookbook for mums and babies under fire again". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 9 May 2020. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  29. ^ "Paleo Pete Evans Wins Bent Spoon For Second Time". Australian Skeptics Inc. 25 October 2020. Archived from the original on 1 November 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  30. ^ Mendham, Tim (19 October 2015). "Bent Spoon Award to Celebrity Chef Pete Evans". Australian Skeptics. Archived from the original on 28 March 2019.
  31. ^ a b Hansen, Jane (14 January 2020). "MKR star Pete Evans should just admit it: he's anti-vax". Herald Sun. Archived from the original on 11 February 2020. Retrieved 11 February 2020.
  32. ^ "'Paleo Pete' Evans tells osteoporosis sufferer to ditch dairy because it 'removes calcium' from bones". News.com.au. 29 August 2016. Archived from the original on 28 February 2017.
  33. ^ Templeton, Sarah (19 December 2018). "Pete Evans recommends you stare directly into the sun for your health". Newshub. NZ. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2018.
  34. ^ Thorpe, Colleen (15 April 2014). "Pete Evans on his new book Healthy Every Day". The Aucklander. NZ. ISSN 1170-0777. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014.
  35. ^ Das, Swetha (10 July 2016). "Paleo and My Kitchen Rules chef Pete Evans says sunscreen contains 'poisonous chemicals'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 7 July 2018.
  36. ^ Meade, Amanda (26 March 2017). "AMA accuses Pete Evans of endangering lives with unscientific health advice". The Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018.
  37. ^ McKay, Brad (22 September 2016). "Don't be fooled, Pete Evans is not a health professional, writes Dr Brad McKay". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 January 2020.
  38. ^ Ballard, Abby (29 August 2016). "An Aussie doctor has delivered Pete Evans the most glorious smack down we've ever seen". Mamamia. Sydney, Australia. Archived from the original on 4 September 2016.
  39. ^ Martin, Lisa (14 March 2019). "Doctors warn Pete Evans to stick to cooking after sharing anti-vaxx podcast". The Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 28 September 2019.
  40. ^ a b Molloy, Shannon (13 January 2020). "Pete Evans slammed for promoting anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr". News.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020.
  41. ^ Haggan, Megan (16 January 2020). "Pertussis adapts to boost its survival". Australian Journal of Pharmacy. Archived from the original on 19 January 2020.
  42. ^ a b Calafiore, Siobhan (20 October 2020). "Pete Evans says Dr Harry Nespolon's death 'speaks volumes' about medical expertise". AusDoc.PLUS. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020.
  43. ^ Visontay, Elias (8 May 2020). "Australian celebrity chef Pete Evans under fire for sharing views of UK conspiracy theorist David Icke". The Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 8 May 2020.
  44. ^ Kachor, Kate. "Facebook removes Pete Evans' profile page over COVID-19 misinformation breaches". 9news.com.au. Retrieved 23 December 2020.
  45. ^ "Facebook deletes Pete Evans's Instagram account". ABC News. 17 February 2021 – via www.abc.net.au.
  46. ^ Hansen, Jane (10 April 2020). "Pete Evans claims BioCharger can treat COVID-19". Gold Coast Bulletin. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  47. ^ Doherty, Ben (10 April 2020). "Chef Pete Evans criticised for trying to sell $15,000 light device to fight coronavirus". The Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 11 April 2020.
  48. ^ Moffet Gray, Lachlan (10 April 2020). "'Stick to talking about activated almonds': Pete Evans slammed for spruiking $15,000 'light machine cure to coronavirus'". The Australian. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  49. ^ Butterworth, Liam (11 April 2020). "Coronavirus treatment spruiked by chef Pete Evans criticised by health associations, to be investigated by TGA". ABC News. Australia. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020.
  50. ^ Harvey, Dr Ken (14 April 2020). "COVID-19 Scams: Hydrogen Technologies Pty Ltd". Medreach Pty Ltd. Hawthorn, Vic. Archived from the original on 15 April 2020.
  51. ^ "Media releases: Pete Evans' company fined for alleged COVID-19 advertising breaches". Therapeutic Goods Administration. 24 April 2020. Archived from the original on 24 April 2020.
  52. ^ Lehmann, Claire (19 July 2021). "Social media 'gurus' put the 'con' in conspiracy". The Australian. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  53. ^ "Book publisher dumps Pete Evans after controversial social media posts". NZ Herald. 16 November 2020. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020.
  54. ^ Taylor, Josh (16 November 2020). "Publisher ends relationship with Pete Evans after chef posts neo-Nazi symbol on social media". The Guardian Australia. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020.
  55. ^ Kachor, Kate (17 November 2020). "Coles join Woolworths in pulling Pete Evans products from shelves". 9News. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020.
  56. ^ Quinn, Karl; Carmody, Broede (17 November 2020). "Dumped by sponsors, what happens to Pete Evans now?". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020.
  57. ^ Knox, David (17 November 2020). "10 dumps Pete Evans from I'm a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here". TV Tonight. Archived from the original on 25 November 2020.
  58. ^ "SydCon Awards: 2011 Break Ups". www.dailytelegraph.com.au. Retrieved 24 July 2020. [dead link]
  59. ^ Tohme, Sasha (6 December 2009). "Pete Evans' beachside bolthole". The Sunday Telegraph. Archived from the original on 13 April 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  60. ^ McCarthy, Danielle. "Inside Pete Evan's $1.2 million farmhouse | OverSixty". www.oversixty.com.au. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
  61. ^ Croffey, Amy (25 April 2016). "MKR judge Pete Evans marries Nicola Robinson in 'magical farmyard' wedding". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 5 June 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2016.
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