MasterChef Australia hosts and judges have pulled out of their scheduled media interviews following the sudden death of Jock Zonfrillo at 46.
Andy Allen and Melissa Leong were jailed this week for several TV and radio appearances to promote the cooking show’s fifteenth season, which was due to air on Channel Ten on Monday but has since been postponed out of respect for Zonfrillo’s family.
The publicity blitz had already begun on Monday morning, before the network and production company Endemol Shine learned of Zonfrillo’s death.
Kyle and Jackie O, Australia’s favorite radio show, admitted on Tuesday that Allen was scheduled for an interview that did not happen.
Host Kyle Sandilands also said he believes MasterChef’s new season will never see the light of day, despite reports it has been delayed by just a week.
MasterChef Australia hosts and judges have pulled out of their scheduled media interviews following the sudden death of Jock Zonfrillo at 46. (Pictured L-R: Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo at the Channel 10 Upfronts presentation on October 11, 2019)
“We’ll have Andy Allen from MasterChef,” he said.
“But after this news of Jock’s death, they canceled the whole show. It doesn’t even air. MasterChef will not be broadcast, is that correct?’
When his co-host Jackie “O” Henderson explained that Ten was “just going to delay it for a week,” Sandilands said he heard the network was just not running it out of respect.
“You can’t run the show with the man who is dead. I just don’t think it’s right,” he added.
“Or I want my family to take care of me [Australian] Idol if I was dead to film it already? I do not think so.’
Leong, 41, and Allen, 35, are said to be “devastated” and “broken” by Zonfrillo’s death.
Channel Ten entertainment reporter Angela Bishop appeared on The Project on Monday – where Zonfrillo was due to perform before his death – and said she heard his co-stars were struggling to come to terms with the news.
“It’s a loss of family member here at ten… [He was] only 46. That’s why this is such shocking news,” Bishop said.
“As you say, together they would work 16 hours a day for MasterChef. Closer colleagues and confidants could not be found.
“They are devastated. “Broken” is the word that has been described to me. They are trying to process this message.”
Zonfrillo’s other colleagues on MasterChef apparently didn’t know he had passed until just before the news broke on Monday afternoon, as the new season’s promotion machine didn’t kick off until 11:30 am. when Leong posted a countdown to the premiere on their Instagram. account.
Leong also gave an interview to Hit WA Breakfast at around 8am on Monday, where she opened up about the couple’s close friendship.
Zonfrillo’s death comes as the fifteenth season of MasterChef, with Jamie Oliver as a guest judge, appeared on Monday night on Ten. The program will not be broadcast this week due to his death.
Police found Zonfrillo’s body around 2am on Monday after she was called to a hotel on Lygon Street in Melbourne’s Carlton for a social check.
No cause of death has been released, but police say his death is not being treated as suspicious. A report for the coroner is being drawn up.
Zonfrillo is survived by his third wife, Lauren Fried, and his four children: teenage daughters Ava and Sophia from his first two marriages, and Alfie, six, and Isla, two, with Fried.
The Scottish-Australian chef co-hosted the popular Channel 10 cooking show with Allen and Leong in 2019. The trio replaced original judges Matt Preston, George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan after they left the show over a pay dispute.
“With utter sadness and no way of knowing how we will get through life without him, we are devastated to announce that Jock passed away yesterday,” his family said in a statement on Monday.
“There are so many words to describe him, so many stories to tell, but right now we are too overwhelmed for words.
“For those who crossed his path, became his partner or were lucky enough to be his family, keep this proud Scotsman in your heart as you sip your next whiskey.
“We ask that you please let us grieve in private while we find a way to deal with this and find space on the other side to celebrate our irreplaceable husband, father, brother, son and friend.
British chef Jamie Oliver, who is a guest judge on this year’s MasterChef and recently wrapped filming with Zonfrillo, said he was “absolutely shocked” by his friend’s death.
“I am completely shocked to wake up to the sudden death of Chef Jock Zonfrillo. We had the best time working together for this year’s MasterChef. I can’t tell you how well it worked out for him,” he wrote on Instagram.
“Jock was very generous with his time and energy for the show and I was very grateful for that.
Melissa, Andy and Jock work as the most inspiring judges and mentors, each with their own attitude and style. Jock will be missed so much.
“I can’t believe I’m writing this. I send sincere love and condolences to all his family, friends and second family, the MasterChef team and the contestants.”
Other tributes from the celebrity and culinary worlds poured in on Monday afternoon.
Fellow chef and TV personality Colin Fassnidge told Daily Mail Australia: “It’s so shocking. I’m sitting on a rock now trying to take it in, I don’t know what to say. I’m confused
“I had to call my wife as soon as I heard that.”
Fellow chef and TV personality Colin Fassnidge (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia: “It’s so shocking. I’m sitting on a rock now trying to take it in, I don’t know what to say. I’m off’
Fassnidge, who has been friends with Zonfrillo for 20 years and last saw him at the Taste of Adelaide Food Festival two weeks ago, said there was no indication anything was wrong with him and the news came as a complete surprise.
“He flew, he did a great job, he had a great performance, he was on top of the world. Jock was normal, he was healthy and he lived a good life,” he said.
“I just feel so sorry for his other half.”
Fassnidge revealed that Zonfrillo’s death turned the hospitality industry on its head.
“We all compete in the ratings, but we are all one big family in hospitality,” he said.
“All chefs know each other to a certain extent.
“Everybody’s calling. Everyone knows the whole community is in shock.
“He is a different version of me. He likes jokes. He loved whiskey. He’s just a great TV host and a great chef.
“I don’t know what I think yet. We were rivals and we were friends.’
British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay said on Twitter that he was devastated by the news.
“I really enjoyed the time we spent together on MasterChef in Australia,” he tweeted. “I send all my love to Lauren and the family at this difficult time.”
Zonfrillo, who began his career working for Michelin-starred chef Marco Pierre White in the UK, overcame his heroin addiction during his teenage years in Glasgow before becoming one of Australia’s most celebrated chefs.
He once said he owed his life to food, telling an interviewer, “It saved my life. A lot of my friends from my early days are now dead or in prison.
“The point of being a junkie is that you only get out when there is something in your life that is more compelling than drugs. And for me, I had another addiction: food and cooking. It got me further. That’s how I survived.”
After getting clean and settling in the UK, Zonfrillo emigrated to Australia and became a chef at Restaurant 41 in Sydney in 2000.
In 2013 he opened the award-winning restaurant Orana in Adelaide.
In 2018, a year before he joined MasterChef, he was named Australia’s hottest chef by the Australian newspaper.
That year, Orana was also named Australia’s best restaurant by the Good Food Guide.
Orana restaurant closed its doors in 2020 when it went into voluntary administration with a total of $3.2 million in debt.
Source: Daily Mail
Ashley Root is an author and celebrity journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a keen eye for all things celebrity, Ashley is always up-to-date on the latest gossip and trends in the world of entertainment.
