MasterChef fans call to rename the trophy the Jock Zonfrillo plate: 'He loved it so much'

It was a bittersweet ending to the 2023 series of MasterChef Australia, with Brent Draper taking out the win and viewers bidding a final farewell to late judge Jock Zonfrillo.

Fans of the hit Channel 10 series were left in tears just after Brent held up the trophy, with the show playing a beautiful tribute to Jock following his final episode ever.

And now, both fans and winner Brent have called for the trophy to be renamed in loving memory of the late Scottish chef, who was found dead at 2am in Melbourne on May 1, the same day MasterChef season 15 was meant to air.

“Please rename the MasterChef trophy the Jock Zonfrillo plate,” one person pleaded online.

Another added: “Will the MasterChef trophy be named after Jock?”.

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Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle after his momentous win on Monday morning, Brent Draper agreed with fans, saying he believes there should be a lasting tribute to Jock.

“I think it would be a great idea. His legacy is MasterChef, he loved it so much. So yeah, it would be a great idea. Definitely.”

Last night, fans were left ‘weeping’ after Channel 10’s emotional tribute to Jock following his final episode ever with the show.

Following the winner's celebrations, Channel 10 cut to a heart-wrenching montage of some of Jock’s most memorable moments from the show, pulling at the heartstrings of Australians everywhere.

The tribute opened with Gordon Ramsay announcing Jock as one of the three new MasterChef judges in 2019, with the late chef saying he values ‘honesty’ above anything else in the kitchen.

Jock’s passion was evident to see from how he judged the dishes over the years, simply saying ‘wow, wow wow,” as Reynold presented his now famous golden snitch dessert to the judges.

“Food’s been my entire life,” Jock can be heard saying over the montage. “The most important thing to me is giving back in the kitchen.”

Behind-the-scenes clips showed Jock’s cheeky personality, goofing around with fellow judges Andy Allen and Melissa Leong between takes and giving the camera a little smirk here and there.

It ended with a message from Jock to the contestants, where he said: “For the last time, go home, make yourselves a cup of tea, put your feet up and be kind to each other, we’ll see you back here tomorrow”.

A photo of the whole crew then appeared on the screen, with the words 'Give it up for Jock Zonfrillo', his famous saying whenever anyone left the MasterChef kitchen.

Viewers were left in floods of tears, with one person writing: “Well the end was tough to watch, but beautiful. Far out Jock will be missed in every conceivable way. Gorgeous man gone too soon.”

“That was a beautiful tribute to Jock. Give it up for Jock Zonfrillo,” another person said.

Others said they were ‘left weeping’ while another said: “I’m a crying mess right now but I’m so glad they did that."

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