Jock farewelled in secret Sydney funeral

The family of late MasterChef Australia judge Jock Zonfrillo will start taking the next steps after his sudden death at 46. It’s understood his wife Lauren and two young children arrived in Melbourne last night from Italy, where they have been living. Mr Zonfrillo’s body was found at a hotel in Melbourne on Monday morning – his cause of death is unknown but not suspicious.

The MasterChef judge died aged 46 on April 30, with his body found at a Melbourne hotel on Lygon Street the day before the Ten cooking series was scheduled to premiere.

Zonfrillo’s widow Lauren Fried, who is the mother of two of four of his children, had sent out invitations to a select group of family and friends from around the world earlier this week. It’s understood there will be no wake.

Photographs from the service show Zonfrillo’s coffin adorned with Royal Banner of Scotland in a nod to his heritage.

The casket was covered with white roses and orchids.

The Daily Telegraph reports Zonfrillo’s four children were preparing to farewell their father, as well as fellow TV chefs Nigella Lawson, George Calombaris, Andy Allen, Colin Fassnidge and Gary Mehigan.

It is also expected his MasterChef co-judges, Andy Allen and Melissa Leong, would have been in attendance.

MasterChef’s premiere was delayed a week and premiered on May 7, with the approval of Zonfrillo’s family.

In an emotional interview on The Project prior to the series debut, Allen gave his first interview speaking to his devastation over unexpectedly losing his close friend.

Allen told co-host Sarah Harris he had enjoyed a three-hour catch up over lunch with Zonfrillo the day before his death.

“We just talked each other’s ear off for three hours. It was so … It was so normal. He was in such good spirits,” he said.

“He was so excited about the show launching.”

He added that he felt “guilty” that Zonfrillo’s wife and their young children, who were in Italy at the time of his death after the family recently relocated to Rome, weren’t there for that final lunch.

“Part of me just feels guilty that it wasn’t them … I just wish that it was them sitting there having lunch with Jock. I’d give anything to swap positions,” he said, adding that Lauren was “the strongest woman I have ever known”.

“She’s lost her best friend. You know … Jock’s got three daughters, and it’s things like never being able to walk them down the aisle … They’re the things that are hurting her the most.”

Leong also shared a tribute to her colleague on social media following his death, speaking about the impact the late chef had on her life in a lengthy post.

“Four years ago, the three of us stood on a precipice and leapt together. I could never have guessed how much of an impact your arrival in my life would have, or that we would be saying goodbye to you so soon. You were always supposed to be the bulletproof one who outlived us all,” she said.

“In that time, you showed me what true excellence looks like both in the kitchen and outside of it; your kindness and generosity, the many lives you’ve lived, the way you carried far more on your shoulders than most could ever know.

“Thank you for challenging me daily, for making me better, my work buddy and friend, purveyor of excellent morning coffees, hater of pears, okra and nasturtiums.

“This all feels too raw to process still, I suspect it will for some time. Such is the impact of a life lived so large, with so much levity and entirely on your own terms.

“My heart goes out to your family, who were and are your life.

“A wee dram for you today, and always.”

A cause of death is yet to be determined, with police saying Zonfrillo’s death was not treated as suspicious.