MasterChef's Andy Allen reveals secret pact after Jock Zonfrillo's death
During his time on the series, he became extremely close friends with fellow judge Andy Allen, leaving the former MasterChef winner shattered by his untimely death. Andy has since revealed that he was one of the first people Jock's wife, Lauren Zonfrillo, called and leaned on after she received the devastating news.
Jock's body was discovered in Zagame's House, a hotel in Melbourne, by police after conducting a welfare check.
Lauren and the two children she shares with Jock, Alfie and Isla, were in Rome at the time of his death waiting for him to catch a flight the following day to begin their dream of splitting their time between Australia and Italy.
Andy has now shared the moment he received the phone call from Lauren about Jock's tragic passing during an appearance on A Life of Greatness with Sarah Grynberg.
The MasterChef judge described Jock's death as "the hardest thing I've ever been through", adding that Jock "was like the older brother that I never had," and that he learned so much from him and not just about cooking and food.
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"I just learned tonnes, and so, for him to pass away, it was shocking – A) that's my birthday, the 30th of April," he said. "B) I was with him the day before, I was the last person to see him, I had lunch [with him]. And then C) for it to play out in the public eye, it was crazy. The first 24 hours was something that I would never want to relive in my life."
He added, "I remember Loz calling me from Rome, because the last bit of publicity that Jock had to do was on the launch day... and then Jock was on a plane to go and live in Rome for six months with the kids, and this was their dream to set up six [months] in Australia, six [months] in Rome... They'd been working on that for such a long time.
"And 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," Andy recalled. "I was then like, and I suppose this is my coping mechanism, but I was like, 'OK, what do you need?' And she was like, 'I just don't know what to do, because he's got a lot of press to do this morning, and I had a bit of press to do as well, and I was like, 'OK, I'll go do his press.' Because she didn't want to go to [Channel] Ten and [say] this has happened, like, she needed to kind of get a plan together and deal with it."
Andy continued, saying that knowing Jock had died while doing his press was incredibly difficult.
He explained that he was living in Carlton at the time and when he was on his way to do press that day, of all the ways his Uber driver could go, he passed Zagame's House where Jock had died.
"I was trying so hard to get in the zone and get done what I needed to do, and somehow did this press until nine o'clock and obviously hadn't told anyone, and that was like step one, get that done, then start the grieving process," he explained.
Andy explained that he did everything he could to be there for Lauren and Jock's children that it "prolonged my grieving process".
He shared that there was a moment where he and his wife were in Europe together and it was Jock's birthday and a few other big moments had just happened, and he "just lost it".
"I just broke down," he said. "And I think from then on, I wasn't okay, I realised I wasn't a great husband, I wasn't good to the people that are around me. And I just think it was because of that first period of just, like, looking out for everyone else, making sure that they're okay, I realised that I hadn't really grieved myself. And then it was like, yeah, I needed to work on myself, because I wasn't an amazing person."
Andy also shared that he was asked by Lauren to stand beside Jock's daughter Ava while she gave her eulogy on the day of his funeral.
He said, "Jock's funeral was another tough one, but I'm proud of the part that I could play – for Loz to go, 'Stand next to Ava, if she needs you to take over, take over,' and the absolute legend crushed it, she didn't need me."
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A post shared by Lauren Zonfrillo (@laurenzonfrillo)
Andy also added that it feels "really special" to know that he has had a positive impact on Jock's children and that he always tries to stay involved in their lives.
He finished by saying he is "in awe of how Lauren's handled the whole situation."
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Lauren, meanwhile, has praised Andy for the "safety and care" he brings to her and her children in a poem she shared on Instagram.
She wrote, "You are strong and unknowingly wise, you have done anything I ask, all unreasonable on reflection, but you turn up for us, every time."
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