Pete Evans

Peter Daryl Evans was born on 29 August 1973 in Melbourne, Australia. He began working in commercial kitchens at age 13 and became a restaurateur at 19. His Sydney restaurants under the Hugos Group brand won multiple industry awards including Best Pizza in the World at the American Pizza Challenge in 2005.

From 2010 to 2020 Evans served as a judge on the popular Australian cooking competition My Kitchen Rules. Around 2011 he became an advocate for the paleo diet, authoring approximately 25 cookbooks and building a large following on social media. His transition from celebrity chef to health commentator was not accompanied by any formal nutrition or health qualifications.

Evans's health advocacy became increasingly extreme and dangerous. In 2015, a cookbook he co-authored for paleo eating in infancy was withdrawn before publication after public health experts described its infant formula recipes as potentially lethal. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Evans promoted the BioCharger device as a coronavirus treatment and repeatedly posted anti-vaccination and conspiracy content on social media, including promoting Andrew Wakefield's discredited vaccine-autism research. Facebook and Instagram permanently removed his accounts.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration issued Evans's company fines totalling approximately A$80,000 for unlawful advertising of the BioCharger and other devices as COVID-19 treatments. The Australian Skeptics awarded him the Bent Spoon award twice, most recently in 2020. Evans has since continued to operate in alternative wellness and conspiracy adjacent spaces.

“The BioCharger light and energy device can treat or prevent COVID-19”

The TGA found Evans's claims that a 'BioCharger' device could treat COVID-19 had 'no apparent foundation'. No clinical evidence supports the use of light or electromagnetic devices to treat SARS-CoV-2 infection. Evans was fined A$25,200 initially and total fines reached approximately A$80,000 for repeated advertising breaches.

“A paleo diet bone broth recipe is safe and nutritionally adequate for infants”

In 2015 Evans co-authored a paleo cookbook containing infant formula recipes based on bone broth. Health experts including the Public Health Association of Australia described the recipes as 'extremely deadly for all babies' due to dangerously high levels of vitamin A and other nutrients. The publisher withdrew the book from sale before publication.

“COVID-19 is a hoax and vaccines are dangerous; Andrew Wakefield's discredited vaccine-autism link is credible”

COVID-19 is a documented pandemic that caused millions of deaths worldwide. Wakefield's 1998 Lancet paper was retracted and Wakefield was struck off the medical register for fraud. Evans promoted Wakefield's claims in podcasts and repeatedly posted anti-vaccination and anti-mask content, leading to his permanent removal from Facebook and Instagram.