MasterChef judge reveals tragic Jock Zonfrillo phone call
At 4.30am on April 30, 2023, Lauren, Jock's wife, delivered the heartwrenching news to Allen and also to inform him that fellow judge Jock had press commitments scheduled for that morning.
She wanted to keep his death from the MasterChef team and didn't want 10 to know he had passed yet.
As a result, Allen went in Jock's place, knowing that Jock was dead, and carrying on with press for the season launch as if he had no idea.
'I get a call at about 4.30 in the morning from Lauren in hysterics and telling me what had happened, that Jock had passed away. And I was then like…what do you need? And she was like, 'Well…he's got a lot of press to do this morning.' And I had a bit of press to do as well. I was like, okay, I'll go do his press because she didn't want to go to Ten…she needed to get a plan together,' he told A Life of Greatness with Sarah Grynberg.
Allen said navigating grief publicly and privately was the 'hardest thing I've ever been through' for many reasons.
'For him to pass away was shocking, (firstly) it was my birthday, (secondly) I was with him the day before, I was the last person to see him, we had lunch and (thirdly) for it to play out in the public eye was crazy, the first 24 hours I never want to relive.'
Allen and Jock were inseparable as soon as they entered the MasterChef kitchen as the new judges, alongside Melissa Leong, taking over from George, Gary and Matt Preston.
'He was like the older brother I never had,' he said.
'I learnt so much from him, cooking, food and saw him with his family and his young kids and Loz and thought 'Wow, he's really great at being present with them.'
Allen, who won MasterChef in 2012 at the age of 23, said his grieving process was 'such a journey for the first six months' and found himself being there for others.
'I needed to work on myself more. I went to talk therapy and became very aware that grief is okay,' he told Grynberg.
'I miss Jock every day but I've learnt there's so much more to celebrate, there's days I have really bad days, life is short and they (the Zonfrillos) had a life and they were so amazing at that life and I want to celebrate that.'
The 46-year-old Scottish chef was found dead in a Melbourne hotel room in April 2023.
His cause of death has never been revealed. Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo became good friends on MasterChef. Credit: News Corp Australia
In an exclusive interview with 7NEWS Spotlight that aired in May, Lauren spoke about discovering Jock's journal and reading his final words.
'Jock had journalled for a period of time,' she told Seven's Liz Hayes.
'It meant a lot to me reading . . . (about) such a normal conversation, but I got his version.
'It was kind of this encouragement to say, you've got this, Lauren, there's been many times where I've (felt like) I haven't got this.'
Lauren — who was in Italy at the time of Jock's death — reportedly asked police to conduct a welfare check after failing to contact him.
The couple had relocated to Rome with their young children, Alfie and Isla, with Jock travelling back to Australia to film MasterChef.
Lauren now lives in Sydney with the younger kids, and Allen said he is still in touch with family but needed to see them more.
Before MasterChef changed Allen's life, he was an apprentice electrician in Newcastle.
He didn't come from a background of chefs and only ever cooked for family and friends, inspired by Jamie Oliver and his recipes.
Allen took the big leap from sparky to the cooking competition after a mate dared him to enter for $500.
After his winning season, he took a full time chef role at a small cafe in Bronte where he enhanced his cook skills.
He later opened the restaurant Three Blue Ducks in Roseberry, alongside Mark Labrooy and Darren Robertson, which now has multiple locations on the East Coast.
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