Jock Zonfrillo recalls TV tribute to MasterChef Australia's return

Celebrity chefs including Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Nigella Lawson and former boss Marco Pierre White have remembered Jock Zonfrillo in a televised tribute dedicated to the late MasterChef Australia judge a week after his sudden death.
Network 10 aired the first episode of the new season of MasterChef Australia on Sunday evening, after delaying the premiere until Zonfrillo's family gives his blessing for its diffusion. Filming for the series wrapped last month.
The first episode aired unchanged, but production company Endemol Shine Australia dropped the name of the series. 15th season, Secrets and Surprises, promotions.
Network 10 also pre-aired an hour-long episode of The Sunday Project focusing on Zonfrillo, which revealed that the leader of of Scottish descent and his family had moved to Rome permanently just three weeks before his death.
The 46-year-old had returned to Australia to promote the new season when his body was found in Melbourne on May 1. No cause of death has yet been released, but Victoria Police are not considering the death suspicious.
Fellow MasterChef Judge Andy Allen said he had had lunch with Zonfrillo the day before he died and said the chef was "in such good spirits".
Allen said he felt guilty for having that opportunity with Zonfrillo instead of his family, who were in Italy at the time.
"Part of me just feels guilty that it's not them, I just wish let them be the ones having lunch with Jock. I would give anything to change positions," he said.
He passed on a message from the family from Zonfrillo, who returned to Australia: "They just wanted me to say they can feel the support for Jock and themselves. They are hurting but it helps. They have been overwhelmed with the support he has received, him and the whole family. They didn't know. It was unreal to see how much support there was.
Ramsay, who worked with Zonfrillo in the 1990s in the UK, was moved as he remembered his fellow Scot, saying his death was "a huge shock".
"He was a boy who refused to grow old, he refused to toe the line. He just wanted to have fun," he said.
"The ripples were devastating, no one will recover quickly. If there's one thing we've done as leaders, it's that we we are united and that we talked about the good times, "he added before breaking down. "It's so painful.
Oliver remembers having first met Zonfrillo when Oliver took his wife to his restaurant in Cornwall." It was Jules and I's first date weekend and we went, and there he was, young Jock , 22, a chef with a beautiful menu and a beautiful kitchen," he said. "I remember it because it was the first time I remembered being spoiled by another chef."
White, who was the one of the first chefs to employ Zonfrillo in the UK, said, "Jock came to me when he was 17, his enthusiasm was greater than his knowledge, but it was this enthusiasm that drove him, perhaps being fueled by his fears of failure, by his insecurities, which I could relate to."
"You could see he was very gifted, he was very smart," he added. “He was filled with empathy and compassion. He had qualities that very few leaders have.
"My heart breaks, I'm sure, like everyone else, for Jock's children, his family and everyone who loved him." It's an old-fashioned phrase here, but may his memory be a blessing,” Nigella said.
“I've never met a Scots-Italian before you; we got along in so many bloody ways. One of my favorite memories is drinking whiskey and singing Scottish songs with you,” said singer Jimmy Barnes, who performed The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond as a tribute to his friend.
 Zonfrillo joined MasterChef Australia as a judge in 2019 alongside Allen and Melissa Leong,

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Jock Zonfrillo recalls TV tribute to MasterChef Australia's return

Celebrity chefs including Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Nigella Lawson and former boss Marco Pierre White have remembered Jock Zonfrillo in a televised tribute dedicated to the late MasterChef Australia judge a week after his sudden death.

Network 10 aired the first episode of the new season of MasterChef Australia on Sunday evening, after delaying the premiere until Zonfrillo's family gives his blessing for its diffusion. Filming for the series wrapped last month.

The first episode aired unchanged, but production company Endemol Shine Australia dropped the name of the series. 15th season, Secrets and Surprises, promotions.

Network 10 also pre-aired an hour-long episode of The Sunday Project focusing on Zonfrillo, which revealed that the leader of of Scottish descent and his family had moved to Rome permanently just three weeks before his death.

The 46-year-old had returned to Australia to promote the new season when his body was found in Melbourne on May 1. No cause of death has yet been released, but Victoria Police are not considering the death suspicious.

Fellow MasterChef Judge Andy Allen said he had had lunch with Zonfrillo the day before he died and said the chef was "in such good spirits".

Allen said he felt guilty for having that opportunity with Zonfrillo instead of his family, who were in Italy at the time.

"Part of me just feels guilty that it's not them, I just wish let them be the ones having lunch with Jock. I would give anything to change positions," he said.

He passed on a message from the family from Zonfrillo, who returned to Australia: "They just wanted me to say they can feel the support for Jock and themselves. They are hurting but it helps. They have been overwhelmed with the support he has received, him and the whole family. They didn't know. It was unreal to see how much support there was.

Ramsay, who worked with Zonfrillo in the 1990s in the UK, was moved as he remembered his fellow Scot, saying his death was "a huge shock".

"He was a boy who refused to grow old, he refused to toe the line. He just wanted to have fun," he said.

"The ripples were devastating, no one will recover quickly. If there's one thing we've done as leaders, it's that we we are united and that we talked about the good times, "he added before breaking down. "It's so painful.

Oliver remembers having first met Zonfrillo when Oliver took his wife to his restaurant in Cornwall." It was Jules and I's first date weekend and we went, and there he was, young Jock , 22, a chef with a beautiful menu and a beautiful kitchen," he said. "I remember it because it was the first time I remembered being spoiled by another chef."

White, who was the one of the first chefs to employ Zonfrillo in the UK, said, "Jock came to me when he was 17, his enthusiasm was greater than his knowledge, but it was this enthusiasm that drove him, perhaps being fueled by his fears of failure, by his insecurities, which I could relate to."

"You could see he was very gifted, he was very smart," he added. “He was filled with empathy and compassion. He had qualities that very few leaders have.

"My heart breaks, I'm sure, like everyone else, for Jock's children, his family and everyone who loved him." It's an old-fashioned phrase here, but may his memory be a blessing,” Nigella said.

“I've never met a Scots-Italian before you; we got along in so many bloody ways. One of my favorite memories is drinking whiskey and singing Scottish songs with you,” said singer Jimmy Barnes, who performed The Bonnie Banks o' Loch Lomond as a tribute to his friend.

Zonfrillo joined MasterChef Australia as a judge in 2019 alongside Allen and Melissa Leong,