Michelin-star chef Marco Pierre White has finally broken his silence over the death of MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo.
The 46-year-old passed away in Melbourne on May 1, and many of his friends and colleagues have paid tribute to him.
Trigger Warning: This article will discuss a specific person’s experiences with drug addiction. This may be triggering to readers with similar experiences.
However, Marco Pierre has been criticised for failing to acknowledge the tragedy until two days after Jock’s death when he posted a tribute on Instagram.
“RIP, my love and my condolences to the family. MPW x,” he captioned the photo of himself and Jock in their chef uniforms.
The public left scathing comments on Marco Pierre White’s Instagram after he did not address Jock Zonfrillo’s death
Tributes have poured in for the Scottish-born chef, including from his fellow MasterChef judges Melissa Leong and Andy Allen.
However, Marco Pierre remained silent, instead opting to post a photo with his son Luciano in Bangkok the day after Jock had passed.
“I’m shocked! This is as insensitive as it gets. What poor timing to post this!” one used commented, whilst another user wrote: “Maybe a little mention of Jock Zonfrillo’s sudden death would have shown some empathy towards him…just saying.”
MasterChef‘s Jock Zonfrillo started his career working with Marco Pierre White
Jock started his career as a chef working under Marco Pierre in the UK. However, tensions arose between the two chefs when Jock wrote about his mentor in his memoir Last Shot.
“[Jock] has a natural intellect and he’s very nice,” Marco Pierre told Good Weekend during an interview last year.
“The only problem is that almost everything he has written about me is untrue,” he added.
In Last Shot, Jock confessed that he was a homeless heroin addict when he started working for Marco Pierre in London in 1994.
“[Marco Pierre] didn’t fire me. Instead, he picked up the phone, put in a call to the hostel and asked them to fast-track me on the waiting list and find a bed for me,” Jock wrote.
“In the meantime, he put me in touch with a couple of boys from Canteen, the other restaurant he owned, and arranged for me to sleep on their sofa until I could get my sh*t together.
“He even advanced me some cash to tide me over.”
However, once the book was released, Marco Pierre stated that he didn’t have much of a relationship with Jock.
“I never saw much of [Jock], and he worked in my kitchen for a very short time,” he told Good Weekend.
Police release a statement after MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo’s death
A Victoria Police spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia they discovered Jock’s body “at about 2 am on May 1 after they were called to an address on Lygon Street in Carlton for a welfare check”.
His death is not being treated as suspicious.
Jock is survived by his third wife, Lauren Fried, and his four children: Ava and Sophia, from his first two marriages, and Alfie and Isla whom he shares with Lauren.
If you are in need of resources to help yourself or someone you know with issues relating to alcohol use, please call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800-250-015 for free and confidential advice.
If you are in need of resources to help yourself or someone you know with issues relating to drug use, please visit Reach Out Australia or the Alcohol and Drug Foundation for help, information and resources.
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