My Kitchen Rules judge flees haunted hotel


My Kitchen Rules judge Pete Evans has run away from a hotel in Chicago after being spooked by ghosts.

The celebrity chef took to his Facebook account to explain “one of the weirdest experiences” of his life and why he left the hotel in the middle of the night without checking out.

“It suddenly felt airily cold and I sensed that something just wasn’t right with the energy, not only in the hallway, but even more so once I was inside my room. I tried to shake it off and tell myself it was all in my head, but the extremely uneasy feelings didn’t go away, if anything it became more intense, so I grabbed my bags and pretty much ran out!” he wrote.

“I bypassed checkout, jumped straight in a cab and got the %$&# outa [sic] there.”

The post has attracted more than 320 comments including some from ex-employees of the hotel claiming the rooms are haunted. Others took it as an opportunity to lampoon the man who made the term “activated almonds” famous.

“It is the USA, maybe you just inadvertantly [sic] ate some GMO corn, or beef, or soy etc!” fan Bob Black posted.

Evans, who claimed to be “super sceptical about the paranormal” before the incident which occurred over the weekend, doesn’t drink coffee, green tea or alcohol.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that what I felt was real, but each to their own,” he signed off.

Haunted ... Chicago's Congress Plaza Hotel.

Haunted … Chicago’s Congress Plaza Hotel.

The Congress Plaza Hotel was built in the late 1800s and is reportedly haunted by many ghosts including that of Prohibition-era gangsta Al Capone who used the hotel as his headquarters.

The north tower of the hotel is believed to be haunted by the spirit of a little boy who was killed with his brother in the 1930s after his mother threw them off the balcony before jumping herself.

Numerous travel blogs contain stories regarding paranormal activity inside the hotel, especially in the rooms adjacent to Room 447, the one Evans was due to stay in.

“If you ever find yourself staying at the hotel, avoid room 441. Security is called there more than any other room. Objects move, strange sounds are heard and guests have even seen the shadowy outline of a woman,” a post on Chicago Now stated.

However, his room – 447, got a mention on other sites like TripAdvisor for horrors of a different kind. Photos posted by past guests show the room contains a mouldy radiator unit and is frequented by cockroaches.

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