MasterChef Australia judge Andy Allen tearfully honours Jock Zonfrillo during show

Masterchef Australia judge Andy Allen (right) paid a heartbreaking tribute to friend, chef and former co-host Jock Zonfrillo during July 3's episode. Photo / Instagram @andyallencooks

The 16th season of Masterchef Australia may be heating up, but Wednesday’s episode was a poignant reminder of the show’s tragic loss of one of its brightest stars.

Masterchef Australia returned for a new season in April, the first without Scottish-Australian chef and judge Jock Zonfrillo since his sudden death in 2023.

In Wednesday’s episode, the show’s contestants were asked to share who their culinary heroes were before they began a challenge, and one particular judge chose to honour the late Zonfrillo with a touching message.

All the contestants paid tribute to family members, who they praised for instilling in them a love for cooking. When it came to the season four winner-turned-judge Andy Allen, he singled out his “late, great mate, Jock” as his culinary hero.

Allen went on to describe all the things that Zonfrillo had taught him over the years and became emotional as he spoke, eventually becoming consoled by the other judges.

“The time that we spent cooking in this kitchen and creating an energy where people like you could just reach for the stars and succeed in everything you do,” he said of Zonfrillo.

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“I learned so much about that from Jock and he taught me so much about being a good husband and being a good son, and one day hopefully being a good dad. So I miss him a lot,” Allen continued as Poh Ling-Yeow, another judge, put her hand on his shoulder in support.

Zonfrillo died early on April 30 last year at the age of 46. He had just returned to Melbourne from Italy and was preparing to launch Masterchef Australia’s 15th season the next day.

After Zonrillo’s wife hadn’t heard from him, she contacted the police and asked them to do a welfare check at his hotel on Lygon Street. It was there that they found his body.

Speaking to the Carrie and Tommy Show, Allen earlier explained that he made the tough call to return for Masterchef’s new season out of respect for his friend and fellow co-host, reported news.com.au.

“It’s nearly a year. Sometimes it feels like yesterday and other times it feels like it was a long, long time ago,” he said on the show.

“It was hard. It was really hard. I didn’t actually know if I was going to do [Masterchef] again.

“It just felt so wrong to do it without him, because we just loved it so much together and walking back into that kitchen was huge.

“My only fear was that I couldn’t do it and I couldn’t be what it needed me to be.”

Despite acknowledging the difficulties in returning to the series, Allen said he knew he was doing it for Zonfrillo and the legacy they had created together.

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“It was.... there was just this weight of grief over me,” Allen said to the show’s hosts Carrie Bickmore and Tommy Little.

“I just didn’t know if I’d be able to get through it. I just didn’t know if I’d be able to do it justice, to give the show what it needed because there was so much grief attached to that kitchen.

“But I think it only lasted until … it was a hard first scene. I’m literally the only person in that kitchen. Just myself, no contestants.”

“And I just couldn’t tell when it was going to hit me, but the grief just got to me,” Allen noted on the show.