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Jock Zonfrillo, who became popular for his appearances on MasterChef Australia, recently died at the age of 46 on April 30, 2023. The news was confirmed by his family via his social media account, but they did not reveal any information about his cause of death. He was in Melbourne at the time of his demise and the incident is not being treated as suspicious.
MasterChef Australia season 15 was set to premiere on May 1, but producers took to Twitter to share that the show will be postponed.
They wrote:
"Network 10 and Endemol Shine Australia are deeply shocked and saddened at the sudden loss of Jock Zonfrillo, a beloved member of the MasterChef Australia family. Jock passed away in Melbourne yesterday. MasterChef Australia will not air this week."
At the time of his death, Zonfrillo was married to Lauren Fried and the duo were parents to two children, Alfie and Isla.
Jock Zonfrillo tied the knot three times and was the father of four children
Jock Zonfrillo exchanged vows three times in his life. Although the identities of his first two wives and the timeline of their marriage is blurry, as per The Mail, the late star was first married to a woman named Kelly. Their marriage reportedly ended due to his heroin addiction, which he never spoke to her about. The second marriage was impacted due to his work commitments and financial problems.
He had two children, Ava and Sophia, from his previous marriages.
Zonfrillo then met Lauren Fried on Twitter in 2014 when the latter contacted him through a message, after which they went to a Sydney bar for their first date. Lauren is a marketing strategist for the communications agency Pulse.
Jock's friends thought she would be his perfect life partner and the two later went on to tie the knot in 2017. They then welcomed their son Alfie into their lives in 2018, and faced some complications as he was born prematurely. They then had a daughter, Isla, two years later in 2020.
In an interview with WHO, he stated:
"After having made a lot of mistakes in my first two marriages, and I've got these amazing children in my family from those two marriages, and my third wife Loz, we became just an instant family."
Jock also mentioned that his family had been a major support to him while he was dealing with mental health issues and that spending time with them helped him a lot over the years.
Jock Zonfrillo launched a few restaurants throughout his successful career
Jock Zonfrillo started his career by working in different hotels and restaurants such as The Turnberry Hotel, Arkle Restaurant, Marco Pierre White, and The Tresanton Hotel.
Zonfrillo then worked as the head chef for Restaurant 41 and launched restaurants like Orana and Street ADL and Nonna Mallozzi. The latter had to be shut down when it suffered some heavy losses.
He first appeared on MasterChef Australia in 2014 and continued to appear on the show until 2023. He also presented a few other cooking shows like Nomad Chef, Chef Exchange, and Restaurant Revolution.
