The causes of death are not yet known. The new season of MasterChef Australia was scheduled to premiere this Monday, but the show has already canceled this week’s episodes.
Jock Zonfrillo, chef and judge of MasterChef Australia, passed away this Sunday in Melbourne, on the eve of the premiere of the new season of the cooking show. The Scottish jury was 46 years old and, according to a statement issued by Zonfrillo’s family, quoted by The Guardian newspaper, the cause of death is still unknown. And the BBC adds that the body of Jock Zonfrillo was found in his house, by the authorities, on Monday morning.
“We are completely heartbroken and don’t know how we will live without him, we are devastated to share that Jock died yesterday,” the family said in a statement released Monday. “Many words can be described, many stories can be told, but right now we are too overwhelmed to say. For those who crossed paths with him, became friends with him or were lucky enough to be family, keep this proud Scotsman in your hearts when you hold whiskey close to him.”
The MasterChef Australia program was scheduled to debut this Monday and one of the guests would be British chef Jamie Oliver, who said he was “shocked” by the news of Jock Zonfrillo’s death.
In total shock to learn of the sudden death of chef Jock Zonfrillo. I had a great time working with him for this year’s edition. @MasterChefau. Jock was very generous with his time and spirit on the show and he will be sorely missed. Sending heartfelt love and condolences to all of his… pic.twitter.com/Ssa9qOKiFr
— Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver) May 1, 2023
Also via social media, Network 10 and cooking show producer Endemol Shine Australia announced that episodes scheduled for this week will not air. And they said they were “deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden loss” of Jock Zonfrillo, who was born in Glasgow in 1976 and started working in a kitchen at age 13, washing dishes.
Network 10 and Endemol Shine Australia are deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden loss of Jock Zonfrillo, a beloved member of the MasterChef Australia family. Jock passed away yesterday in Melbourne.
MasterChef Australia will not air this week. pic.twitter.com/cmtDuJr19P— MasterChef Australia (@masterchefau) May 1, 2023
Zonfrillo left school early, when he was 15 years old, and decided to start his career in the world of cooking as an apprentice at the Turnberry Hotel. At 17, he worked with chef Marco Pierre White. The stories of this Scotsman multiply and they became known mostly in the memoirs he wrote in 2021, called ‘Last Shot’. One of the best-known stories is, for example, the time when he was fired as head chef at Forty One Sydney, in 2000, for setting fire to an apprentice’s trousers, which Jock thought he worked too slowly.
2019 marked Jock’s arrival on television, to participate in MasterChef Australia.
Source: Observadora
