MasterChef Australia judges Andy Allen and Melissa Leong share emotional tributes following shock death of Jock Zonfrillo

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MasterChef Australia co-hosts Andy Allen and Melissa Leong have remembered Jock Zonfrillo as “the complete package” who had “a life lived so large” following their colleague’s death on Sunday.

Allen, who won the fourth season of the series in 2012 and went on to judge alongside Zonfrillo from 2020, posted a tribute on Instagram on Tuesday.

He said he and Zonfrillo and their families had become close friends.

“You’ve become such an inspirational and important part of our lives,” he wrote.

READ MORE:
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“Sure, you’ve taught me so much about food, but it’s the lessons I learnt about what it means to be a great father, husband and friend that I’ll take away from our time together and will last forever.”

Allen went on: “I’ll miss the way you mentored me and every contestant that walked into the MasterChef kitchen, I’ll miss you ordering the entire menu no matter how many dishes deep and making me eat every last bite.

“I’ll miss your morning on-set coffees that made me shake from the amount of caffeine you were able to extract out of every individual bean, I’ll miss the morning FaceTimes with (Zonfrillo’s wife and children) Loz, Alfie and Isla, but overall I’ll miss you looking out for me every single day.”

Allen thanked Zonfrillo “for making me constantly laugh and being there when I needed to cry” and said, “You really were the complete package mate and life will never be the same without you.”

Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo at the 2022 AACTA Awards in Sydney, Australia.

Caroline McCredie/Getty

Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo at the 2022 AACTA Awards in Sydney, Australia.

Leong said the news of Zonfrillo’s death felt “too raw to process” in an Instagram post on Tuesday night.

“Four years ago, the three of us stood on a precipice and leapt together,” she wrote in an Instagram post.

“I could never have guessed how much of an impact your arrival in my life would have, or that we would be saying goodbye to you so soon. You were always supposed to be the bulletproof one who outlived us all.

“In that time, you showed me what true excellence looks like both in the kitchen and outside of it; your kindness and generosity, the many lives you’ve lived, the way you carried far more on your shoulders than most could ever know.”

Leong said her heart went out to Zonfrillo’s family, “who were and are your life”.

Zonfrillo, 46, who had spoken openly about his struggles with anxiety and addiction, was found dead in a Melbourne hotel room early on Monday morning, hours after he had returned early from a family holiday to Italy without his wife and two youngest children.

The new series of MasterChef Australia, Secrets and Surprises, was due to premiere on Channel 10 on Monday night, but the network postponed its launch after news of Zonfrillo’s death broke.

The show’s Kiwi carrier, TVNZ, has also postponed its launch, which was set for Sunday, May 7.

MasterChef NZ judges Michael P Dearth and Vaughan Mabee have also paid tribute to Zonfrillo.

Dearth, who owns Auckland restaurants Baduzzi and The Grove, said he had always admired Zonfrillo.

“I loved his worry beads. He had this openness about his anxiety. I loved how he mentored those young guys,” he said.

MasterChef NZ judge Michael P. Dearth said Zonfrillo had “an openness about his anxiety”.

Supplied

MasterChef NZ judge Michael P. Dearth said Zonfrillo had “an openness about his anxiety”.

Dearth’s co-judge Vaughan Mabee, executive chef at lauded Queenstown restaurant Amisfield, said he was also stunned by the news.

“I was very shocked. He was inspirational to many chefs because a lot of us when we’re young, tend to go down a bit of a dark alley, and a lot of chefs I’ve known in my career never got out of that.

“But I liked how he seemed to have gone through a lot and rose back to being a great person who found a lot of success after going through bad times.”

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