It's a sad night for MasterChef Australia fans, as viewers bid farewell to judge, Jock Zonfrillo, who passed away earlier this year in May.
Jock was a beloved TV personality, celebrated chef, husband, and father to two young children. The celebrity chef was found dead in Melbourne in the early hours of 1 May 2023, the same weekend that MasterChef was due to premiere.
The reality TV season had already been filmed at the time of Jock's sudden passing. After a one week delay, the season has gone ahead as expected, acting as a memorial of Jock's time on the popular cooking show.
Jock left behind his wife of six years, Lauren Fried, who has continued to post from the chef's Instagram account in the weeks since his death.
As MasterChef airs the final episode that's expected to feature Jock, Lauren shared a message with his fans on his Instagram.
"Tonight is the MasterChef finale... as a family, we're going to try to watch it, we haven't been able to watch this season just yet. It's something we will try to do," she said.
"But we felt tonight was an important one to watch. Like most families, there's moments across the year that are special and we used to really enjoy watching the finale together.
"It was something Jock was really proud of; it was a job he really loved doing. We've decided we're going to honour that and do what we usually do -- watch the finale together."
