MasterChef Australia judge Andy Allen has opened up the loss of his best friend and co-star Barry ‘Jock’ Zonfrillo in a new interview.
Zonfrillo passed away on May 1, 2023 and his sudden death shocked his family, friends, fans and the judges he worked alongside on the long-running series.
Now, on the third anniversary of his passing, and following the death of Married At First Sight expert Mel Schilling earlier this year, Allen is reflecting on grief, and the lessons he’s learned from his own experience of sudden loss.
Speaking to WHO, Allen reflected on the close bond within the MasterChef Australia team, the ongoing nature of his grief, and how Zonfrillo’s death changed him.
“It was a really tough, tough part of my life and, you know, I still think about Jock on a daily basis,” Andy told WHO.
When asked about advice for people grieving in the public eye, he said there is no clear guide.
“But you just got to stick together because it is really hard and especially it playing out in the public eye,” he said.
“You know, my heart goes out to them John and Alessandra because, you know, much like the MasterChef kitchen is, I’m sure that that crew are really, really tight,” he added, sharing his advice for the MAFS crew.
Allen said one of the key things he learned was the importance of connection during difficult periods.
“It will galvanise you,” he said.
“It will make you a stronger person but in the dark times, you really just got to stay connected to your closest people and also look out for yourself.”
He also spoke about how his grief unfolded over time.
“I think for me, personally (when Jock died) I was kind of so worried about other people and I wanted to be there for Loz and the kids and everyone around MasterChef and Channel 10 and the extended whoever,” he said.
“I just wanted to be there for them and I suppose for me, the darkest days were probably six months later after Jock passed.”
“I’d never had someone close to me pass, especially under those circumstances before, so I think my defence mechanism and my coping mechanism was to look after others, which is lovely but, six months down the track and I just crashed.”
Allen said major milestones, like Zonfrillo’s birthday, and the anniversary of his death, still bring moments of reflection, even years later.
“I think it was a week when I was overseas and we’d won a Logie, it was Jock’s birthday and there was some other milestone all within the same week and I remember being in Sicily and it just hit me pretty hard,” he said.
“I feel like that was kind of the start of my grieving process from that day and I think as much as you want to be there for others, you also need to be there for yourself as well.”
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