MasterChef Australia 2023 winner Brent Draper has revealed his touching final interaction with the late judge, Jock Zonfrillo.
The Scottish chef was found dead in Melbourne on May 1.
And during his tell-all in episode 324 of the So Dramatic! podcast, Brent shared that Jock’s passing was one of the “weirdest moments”.
“It was such a shock. It rocked me really hard,” he told host Megan Pustetto.
Brent also recalled his last moment with the TV personality, which occurred during the Finale.
“When I won, [Jock and I] had a hug with each other and he whispered in my ear: ‘You f**king did it’,
“So I’ll remember that moment and that’s how I’ll remember the Finale,” Brent said.
Brent Draper reveals why he didn’t watch the MasterChef Australia Finale
Brent also explained that despite winning the show, he never watched the Finale because he didn’t want to alter his memory of his last interaction with Jock.
“I haven’t watched all of it [and] I don’t think I ever will,” he said. “I know what happened, I went through it, and we’ll just leave it at that.”
He also shared that he was “struggling” to watch MasterChef due to Jock’s passing.
“Then I just thought, I’ve got to respect his legacy and just watch it with love and everything he wanted people to watch it with.”
Brent continued: “His wife [Lauren Fried] told us [to never] forget him and always talk about him.
“He loved MasterChef and I think he was MasterChef. You’ve just got to embrace his legacy.”
Brent says Jock Zonfrillo was ‘ALWAYS there’ for him
Brent then shared that Jock “always stood by” him and helped him through his mental health journey.
“I did a lot of charity [work] for mental health… and the first person there to donate or give money was Jock,” Brent said.
“He was always the first one on the list. He was always there, willing to jump on a [livestream] and talk about [mental health].”
Jock also gave Brent a pair of his famous worry beads which grounded him during periods of intense struggle.
“The [worry beads] went with me for every episode in my back pocket,” Brent recalled.
“They reminded [me] that I can struggle, but I can also really go for it.”
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