The late MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo was often seen with worry beads in his hands which he would play with when he needed to take his mind off anxiety or stress.
The 46-year-old tragically passed away on May 1, the same day the fifteenth season of the Channel Ten cooking show, MasterChef Australia 2023: Secretes and Surprises was set to premiere.
The network postponed the air date until May 7, with the “full support” of Jock’s family.
Trigger Warning: This article will discuss a specific person’s experiences with drug addiction. This may be triggering to readers with similar experiences.
What are worry beads?
Since Jock joined the show as a judge alongside Melissa Leong and Andy Allen in 2019, fans noticed he would play with a small beaded bracelet.
He often fielded questions about what we called “worry beads” and one day he took to Instagram to address the “billion messages” he received.
“These are worry beads,” he said in the video.
“I’ve got lots of different types of worry beads, and when I’m feeling anxious or a little bit stressed. Basically, I flick through them like that and the more anxious and more worried you get, the faster I do it.”
Jock said the beads were given to him by the former partner of late writer AA Gill.
“These are very special to me. I love them. They are always in my pocket,” he said.
Jock Zonfrillo used worry beads to reduce his anxiety
Jock suffered from anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, which he attributed to his years of drug addiction amongst other experiences throughout his life.
“I think I’ve worked my way up to it, to be honest. I’ve had so many things wrong with me over the years,” he told Mamma Mia’s No Filter podcast in 2021.
“I’ve sat on a lot of sofas and talked about it to a lot of people that know about it a lot more than I do. But I think anxiety is something that really came in the last decade.”
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.
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