Updated December 11, 2025 — 3:02pm,first published December 11, 2025 — 11:26am
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A former TV host is accused of luring a 16-year-old boy into his backyard, before squeezing his chest, licking his ear, and grabbing his buttocks.
Peter Everett, one-time host of the Network Ten cooking show Ready Steady Cook, has been charged with sexually touching the boy without consent on the NSW Central Coast on July 25.
Peter Everett was a host on Ready Steady Cook.Network Ten
The allegations were outlined in NSW Supreme Court documents released as the 67-year-old’s bail was varied to allow him to travel as close as 10 metres to the teenager’s home.
According to a police fact sheet, the teenager – who has high-functioning autism – walked past Everett’s house on the afternoon of July 25 with his push-bike on the way to get it fixed when Everett told him he would give him a present if he came back later.
After about half an hour the boy knocked on Everett’s door, before being invited into the garden. Everett allegedly closed the gate and showed him a bag with cologne in it.
Everett is then accused of spraying the boy with the cologne, before sniffing the teen’s arm from his wrist to his elbow causing him to “feel extremely uncomfortable”.
The conversation turned to the 16-year-old’s appearance, as Everett put his hand on his shoulder, moved it down his body and squeezed his chest, the documents state.
“The accused’s hand continued down towards the victim’s waist and right thigh before the victim put his hand between his groin and the accused’s hand and pushed the accused’s hand away,” the fact sheet reads.
“The accused then responded, saying ‘nah I shouldn’t. Your… no I shouldn’t, I’ll get in trouble’.”
Police allege Everett hugged the teen while kissing his neck and licking his ear as the boy pulled away.
The fact sheet alleges Everett then “stared” at the boy and “interjected” when he tried to leave.
Everett has denied the accusations.Network Ten
“The accused smacked the victim on the buttocks, grabbing his butt cheek. The victim shooed the accused’s hand away with his hand to get him to stop,” the documents allege.
Eventually, the teenager was able to leave, get home and tell his father what had happened.
The family reported the incident to police, with the child describing feeling “uncomfortable and dizzy” after the incident.
On July 26, police arrested Everett at his house. He “made admissions to touching and smelling the victim’s arm, touching the victim on the shoulder, and hugging him, but denied squeezing the victim’s chest, licking his ear, and grabbing his buttocks,” police allege.
When asked what he meant by telling the boy “nah I shouldn’t… I’ll get in trouble”, he said: “That the hug was too long.”
Everett spent one night in custody before being granted bail.
Under his bail conditions, he was required not to go within 800 metres of the complainant’s home, report to police twice a week and surrender his passport to prevent any flight risk.
However, he successfully had those conditions varied in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday so he could “do some work” at a property located on the same street as the teenager’s home, and is now allowed to travel as close as 10 metres to it.
He was also permitted to retrieve his passport from police so he can fly to Bali for dental treatment.
Justice Desmond Fagan said he appreciated “the understandable desire of the Crown and law enforcement to avoid contact between the accused and the complainant”, but said he “did not see how there would be risks of encountering the complainant” with specific conditions attached.
Accepting the defence’s proposal, Fagan said Everett could drive to the property, park there, remain there or within the adjacent 20 metres to “do what he has to do” and drive away.
“He would not have to linger,” he said.
Fagan also agreed to delete the condition of reporting to police and allow his seized passport to be returned so that Everett could return to Denpasar in Bali in February and complete dental treatment started in November last year, which his lawyer said must be completed within six months.
He must provide his itinerary to police and surrender his passport upon return.
The judge noted it was “unusual” and “exceptional” to grant travel in such circumstances, but said Everett had described a “pressing need” for treatment and it seemed unlikely the trip would “culminate in a serious risk of flight” or not turning up to court.
The alleged offence did not involve “any violence, or significant persistence or ongoing pursuit of the young man”, Fagan said.
“The particular incident itself, while criminal, if proved, is not the most serious offence of its type,” he said.
The court heard police had opposed the deleting of the passport condition unless Everett was still required to report to them.
Everett became a TV personality in 1998 as an interior designer on Changing Rooms and Renovation Rescue, hitting his career peak while hosting Ready Steady Cook from 2006 until 2011, when he was replaced by comedian and actor Colin Lane.
His last TV appearance was in the 2013 season of The Celebrity Apprentice Australia.
Everett will face a Local Court hearing in June next year.
National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732); Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800; Lifeline 131 114; Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.
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