Three years ago, on May 1, 2023, MasterChef Australia lost judge Barry ‘Jock’ Zonfrillo. His sudden death rocked his family, friends, fans, and of course, the judges he stood beside every episode.
On the anniversary of his passing, and in light of MAFS expert Mel Schilling’s tragic death earlier this year, MasterChef Australia alumni and judge Andy Allen is reflecting on how he coped and what advice he has to those grieving a sudden loss.
Speaking to WHO, the judge discussed how close the production crew of MasterChef Australia are, the ebbs and flows of his grieving process, and how Jock’s passing made him “a stronger person” in such a “dark time.”
Andy Allen still thinks of Jock Zonfrillo’s passing every day
While the anniversary of Jock’s passing may just be a sad milestone for fans to remember once a year, for Andy Allen, Jock’s passing has stayed with him almost every day since his death.
“It was a really tough, tough part of my life and, you know, I still think about Jock on a daily basis,” Andy told WHO.
When asked about advice for MAFS contestants and other figures suffering loss in the public eye, Andy said that “there was no playbook.”
“But you just got to stick together because it is really hard and especially it playing out in the public eye,” he said. “You know, my heart goes out to them John and Alessandra because, you know, much like the MasterChef kitchen is, I’m sure that that crew are really, really tight.”
However, the MasterChef Australia judge and restaurant owner did reflect on what he learnt from Jock’s loss.
“It will galvanise you,” he told WHO. “It will make you a stronger person but in the dark times, you really just got to stay connected to your closest people and also look out for yourself.”
Jock’s passing hit Andy much later than he expected
When reflecting on how he processed Jock’s passing, Andy reminisced on how the loss hit him much later than expected after his “defence mechanism” and his “coping mechanism” shut down.
“I think for me, personally (when Jock died) I was kind of so worried about other people and I wanted to be there for Loz and the kids and everyone around MasterChef and Channel 10 and the extended whoever,” he said. “I just wanted to be there for them and I suppose for me, the darkest days were probably six months later after Jock passed.”
“I’d never had someone close to me pass, especially under those circumstances before, so I think my defence mechanism and my coping mechanism was to look after others, which is lovely but, six months down the track and I just crashed.”
The restaurant owner also told WHO about how much milestones like Jock’s birthday, the anniversary of his passing, or the show’s award success still have an impact on his life.
“I think it was a week when I was overseas and we’d won a Logie, it was Jock’s birthday and there was some other milestone all within the same week and I remember being in Sicily and it just hit me pretty hard,” he said. “I feel like that was kind of the start of my grieving process from that day and I think as much as you want to be there for others, you also need to be there for yourself as well.”
As fans remember Jock Zonfrillo’s legacy today, the judge’s family, friends, and the entire production crew that he worked with remember him every year through the show’s celebration of creativity, connection, and cooking.
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