SHOCK OF LOSING JOCK

Foodies around the world were stunned by the death of MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo. We look back at his colourful life

- DENNIS CAVERNELIS

HE SEEMED to have the world on a platter – a beautiful family, fame, a job he loved. International awards came his way, he opened cutting-edge restaurants and he was beloved on MasterChef Australia as the frank but fair judge with the worry beads and the thick Scottish brogue.

Yet for all the accolades and achievements, what Jock Zonfrillo (46) longed for was a small house in the middle of nowhere with his kids and pets.

“Just a simple, uncomplicated life away from everyone,” he said in what would be his final interview. “Not the flashy extravagant lifestyle you’d expect from a TV person.”

And it seemed he was going some way towards achieving it, spending time away from the cameras and the kitchen in Rome, Italy, with his second wife, Lauren Fried (46), and their kids, Alfie (5) and Isla (2).

But the showbiz boat surged on and Jock was back in Australia to promote the latest season of MasterChef when the unthinkable happened: he was found dead in his hotel room.

A few days later the news was followed by another gut punch: Jock had been diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2016 and was undergoing chemotherapy while shooting the second season of Master Chef in 2021.

“No one in his circle was aware of what he was going through,” an insider says. “He didn’t want anyone to know because he didn’t want people feeling sorry for him or treating him any different.”

At the time of going to print, Australian authorities hadn’t revealed the cause of death, but weren’t treating it as suspicious.

HE WAS born Barry Zonfrillo, the son of Sarah, a Scottish hairdresser, and Ivan, an Italian barber, and grew up in the small town of Ayr near Glasgow.