A special programme has aired in honour of late MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo following his death aged 46.
Celebrity chefs including Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson and Marco Pierre White took part to pay tribute to him, with Gordon Ramsay being brought to tears as he remembered the beloved star.
Last week, Zonfrillo’s family released a statement describing their devastation over his shocking death, stating: ‘With completely shattered hearts and without knowing how we can possibly move through life without him, we are devastated to share that Jock passed away yesterday.’
Police confirmed that his death was not being treated as suspicious, while Channel Ten in Australia postponed the premiere of the new season of MasterChef Australia as tributes poured in for the TV personality.
On Sunday, a special episode of Australian TV programme The Project was released, in which several notable figures within the culinary entertainment industry paid homage to Zonfrillo’s memory.
Ramsay, 56, described Zonfrillo’s death as a ‘massive shock’, before wiping away tears.
‘He was never done as a chef, he still had years to go,’ the Hell’s Kitchen star said, adding that spending time with his late friend on MasterChef had been ‘electrifying’.
‘Being in the environment together sort of took us back 20 years, there is something quite amazing about two Scots coming together in Australia, it makes you happy at the end of the day’ he said.
Ramsay added that there was ‘always something quite encouraging’ about everything that they’d been through ‘to get to where we’d been’.
Oliver, 47, remembered meeting Zonfrillo for the first time when he and his wife Jools Oliver went on a date at the very beginning of their relationship.
‘It was me and Jools’ first date weekend and we went there, and there he was, young Jock, 22-years-old, head chef with a beautiful menu and beautiful food,’ recalled.
‘I remember it because it was the first time I remember being spoiled by another chef. We’ve lost a very, very bright star.’
Lawson, 63, said that her ‘heart breaks’ for Zonfrllo’s children and family, as well as ‘everyone who loved him’.
‘There’s an old fashioned phrase here but may his memory be a blessing,’ she added.
White, 61, remembered Zonfrillo coming to him when he was 17 years old, recollecting how ‘his enthusiasm was greater than his knowledge’
‘But it was that enthusiasm which drove him, maybe fuelled by his fears of failure, by his insecurities, which I could relate to,’ he continued.
‘Very few chefs have an inquisitive mind, an intellectual mind and a creative mind. Originality is only original if you’re the first and Jock was the first at what he did, and people have followed him. That’s what makes him special, that’s what makes him rare.’
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