Jock Zonfrillo’s MasterChef Australia finale airs after celebrity chef’s tragic death
The final MasterChef Australia episode with Jock Zonfrillo airs Sunday night on Channel Ten.
The celebrity chef was found dead in his hotel room in Melbourne on April 30 and was buried in an intimate funeral in Sydney in May.
The episode, which will see Brent Draper and Rhiannon Anderson compete for the 2023 title, will mark the last episode filmed before Jock’s death.
The latest series of the ten cooking show was delayed by a week, but it aired in May in support of the jock’s family.
The network is currently searching for a new celebrity judge for the 2024 season to replace Jock.
Jock Zonfrillo’s MasterChef Australia finale airs after celebrity chef’s tragic death
‘International names like Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Shannon Bennett have been thrown around,’ an insider told Woman’s Day last week.
However, the source added that all of these culinary experts have busy schedules so booking them for competitive cooking shows was currently ‘a pipe dream’.
The network is also said to be considering bringing back ‘heritage’ names to the series, such as original judges George Calombaris and Gary Mehigan, to attract older viewers.
Jock died in his hotel room at Zagame’s House on Ligon Street, Carlton, Melbourne, on April 30 and was found by police at around 2am on Monday, May 1 – the same day Channel Ten was due to premiere the fifteenth season of MasterChef Australia.
He is survived by his third wife Lauren and his four children: grown-up daughters Ava and Sophia from his first two marriages, and Alfie and Isla with Lauren.
The media personality was scheduled to do several promotions for Season 15 of MasterChef when he died suddenly.
The episode, which will see Brent Draper and Rhiannon Anderson compete for the 2023 title, will mark the last episode filmed before Jock’s death. Photo judges Melissa Leong, Jock and Andy Allen
Daily Mail Australia can reveal that when police entered the hotel room to do a welfare check, officers believed Jock had died of natural causes and found nothing to suggest otherwise.
No drug paraphernalia was found in the hotel room, sources said.
Heartbroken Lauren said at his funeral: ‘We were two halves who found each other at the right moment in life when we were ready.’
‘We were ready for that big love, to live an adventurous life, to be parents together, to imagine things and make them happen.’
Jock died in his hotel room at Zagame’s House on Ligon Street, Carlton, Melbourne, on April 30 and was found by police at around 2am on Monday, May 1 – the same day Channel Ten was due to premiere the fifteenth season of MasterChef Australia.