“I was lost before Lauren”
The Australian Women's Weekly|April 2021
It may seem a charmed life, but MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo has had serious lows with the highs. He tells Sue Smethurst how love saved him.
Sue Smethurst
“I was lost before Lauren”

Jock Zonfrillo raises his three-year-old son, Alfie, high above his head and playfully blows raspberries on the toddler’s tummy, soaking up fits of giggles. “I’m a complete clown – totally immature most of the time,” Jock says, laughing.

With the blond poppet now wedged on his hip, the Scottish chef, once described as a “kilt-wearing firebrand”, moves like bottled lightning around the kitchen, making coffee for the TV crew filming at his Melbourne home while checking on wife Lauren as she feeds the latest addition to their family, 14-week-old Isla.

“He’s a tornado!” laughs Lauren, 40, a business advisor and marketing specialist who regularly appears as a panellist on ABC series Gruen.

“He’s got a lot of energy, he’s always fun to be around and he’s a very proud Scot,” she adds, recalling how Jock would play bagpipe music when Alfie was a baby to alert him that it was dinnertime. “When the bagpipes played, that meant it was time to eat, but sometimes he played bagpipe music if he was homesick or we had friends around, and poor little Alfie would be sitting there with his mouth gaping open, waiting for food. His Scottish charm is one of the things I love about him – but, thankfully, there’s no bagpipes with Isla.”

Esta historia es de la edición April 2021 de The Australian Women's Weekly.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición April 2021 de The Australian Women's Weekly.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYVer todo
Maggie's kitchen
The Australian Women's Weekly

Maggie's kitchen

Maggie Beer's delicious veg patties - perfect for lunch, dinner or a snack - plus a simple nostalgic pudding with fresh passionfruit.

time-read
1 min  |
January 2025
Reclaim your brain
The Australian Women's Weekly

Reclaim your brain

Attention span short? Thoughts foggy? Memory full of gaps? Brigid Moss investigates the latest ways to sharpen your thinking.

time-read
5 minutos  |
January 2025
The girls from Oz
The Australian Women's Weekly

The girls from Oz

Melbourne music teacher Judith Curphey challenged the patriarchy when she started Australia's first all-girls choir. Forty years later that bold vision has 6500 members, life-changing programs and a new branch of the sisterhood in Singapore.

time-read
9 minutos  |
January 2025
One kid can change the world
The Australian Women's Weekly

One kid can change the world

In 2018, 10-year-old Jack Berne started A Fiver for a Farmer to raise funds for drought relief. He and mum Prue share what happened next.

time-read
5 minutos  |
January 2025
AFTER THE WAVE
The Australian Women's Weekly

AFTER THE WAVE

Twenty years ago, the Boxing Day tsunami tore across the Indian Ocean, shredding towns, villages and holiday resorts, and killing hundreds of thousands of people from Indonesia to Africa. Three Australians share their memories of terror, loss and survival with The Weekly.

time-read
8 minutos  |
January 2025
PATRICIA KARVELAS How childhood tragedy shaped me
The Australian Women's Weekly

PATRICIA KARVELAS How childhood tragedy shaped me

Patricia Karvelas hustled hard to chase her dreams, but it wasn't easy. In a deeply personal interview, the ABC host talks about family loss, finding love, battles fought and motherhood.

time-read
10 minutos  |
January 2025
Ripe for the picking
The Australian Women's Weekly

Ripe for the picking

Buy a kilo or two of fresh Australian apricots because they're at their peak sweetness now and take inspiration from our lush recipe ideas that showcase this divine stone fruit.

time-read
5 minutos  |
January 2025
Your stars for 2025
The Australian Women's Weekly

Your stars for 2025

The Weekly’s astrologer, Lilith Rocha, reveals what’s in store for your astrological sign in 2025. For your monthly horoscope, turn to page 192.

time-read
10 minutos  |
January 2025
MEL SCHILLING Cancer made me look at myself differently'
The Australian Women's Weekly

MEL SCHILLING Cancer made me look at myself differently'

One year on from going public with her bowel cancer diagnosis, Mel Schilling reveals where she's at with her health journey and how it's changed her irrevocably.

time-read
9 minutos  |
January 2025
Nothing like this Dame Judi
The Australian Women's Weekly

Nothing like this Dame Judi

A few weeks before her 90th birthday, the acting legend jumped on a phone call with The Weekly to talk about her extraordinary life – and what’s still to come.

time-read
10 minutos  |
January 2025