A shock twist has been revealed in the death of celebrity chef Jock Zonfrillo, with coroners still investigating what happened almost a year on.
The MasterChef star, 46, was found dead in a Melbourne hotel room on April 30, 2023, leaving behind his wife Lauren and two children.
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At the time of the TV personality’s death, Lauren was in Italy and had telephoned Victoria Police requesting a welfare check because she was unable to get through to him on the phone.
A cause of death was never publicly stated, although sources close to the family said the chef, a former heroin addict, had died of natural causes.
However, in a statement to 7NEWS on Monday, a spokesperson for the Coroner’s Court of Victoria confirmed that Zonfrillo’s death was still under investigation.
“The death of Jock Zonfrillo remains under investigation by the coroner,” the spokesperson said.
“As this is an active investigation, no further comment can be made.”
Zonfrillo was only one day away from joining his co-stars in launching the 15th season of MasterChef when his body was found at the Zagame’s House hotel in Carlton.
He had returned from the family’s new home base in Italy for a week of media commitments, but his death threw the season launch into chaos, with the first episode pushed back a week as fans, friends and colleagues expressed their shock and grief at the sudden loss.
With the blessing of Zonfrillo’s widow, Lauren Fried, the show went to air a week later in memoriam of the Scottish-born chef.
Zonfrillo had been open about his previous battle with heroin addiction, publishing a memoir in 2021 called Last Shot which had detailed his time working with famous chef Marco Pierre White when he was only 17.
For part of that time, Zonfrillo was homeless, battling a serious and ongoing drug addiction, which he only managed to kick when he arrived in Australia to start his life over again.
No items of drug paraphernalia, or any other items deemed unusual or suspicious, were found in Zonfrillo’s hotel room at the time of his death, police said at the time.
But 10 months on, the investigation into exactly what happened in that Carlton hotel room remains active and ongoing.
Since Zonfrillo’s death, his wife Lauren has kept his memory alive with regular posts on his old Instagram account, where she shares photographs and memories of her late husband.
Last week she posted a series of pictures from a dinner with Zonfrillo’s MasterChef co-star and good friend Andy Allen.
“One year ago,” the pictures were captioned. “Our last dinner together before we flew to Rome. We had the sake pairing. Obviously.“I always loved these two, but never more than now.“(These are the worst photos ever taken, but I treasure them.).”
Fans took to the comments section to let Lauren know her husband was still alive in their memories.
“Love these beautiful pics! Jock always made us smile! Sending much love❤️❤️❤️,” one follower wrote.
“That’s so gorgeous!! That’s a beautiful memory to share!! Thank you! Sending love xx,” wrote another.
“So much love in these photos — my heart still breaks for you, the children and Andy … and everyone who misses him 💔,” added a third.
“Thank you for continuing to share with us x.”
