MasterChef's Brent shares emotional tribute to Jock Zonfrillo: 'Goosebumps'

MasterChef star Brent Draper has shared an emotional tribute to the late Jock Zonfrillo following his win on Sunday night.

Brent shared the close connection he had formed with Jock after originally appearing on the show in 2021 and having to leave to take care of his mental health before returning to the show this year.

Jock, who also battled anxiety, sat down with Brent and gave him a set of worry beads, which he was famous for holding throughout the show.

Brent's return was kept secret and was part of the season's tagline, Secrets and Surprise, which was later dropped out of respect for Jock.

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The competition winner described the win as "bittersweet", following the celebrity chef's shock death just hours before the show's fifteenth season was set to premiere.

Speaking about winning Jock's final season on The Project on Monday night, Brent shared that he had "goosebumps" thinking about it.

"I didn’t have a nonna that showed me how to cook, I didn’t have anything. I was just the battling cook and Jock became sort of my food mentor and I just always looked up to him," he said.

"I always wanted to be like him, you know the way he is to everybody. So to get to do this last season with him and go right to the end, it’s very bittersweet."

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Speaking with Yahoo Lifestyle following his win, Brent shared that he became emotional during Ten's tribute to Jock at the end of the episode.

“It was very bittersweet,” he told us. “It was such an amazing experience for me to go through this last journey with Jock on something that he loved so much, MasterChef.

“And the beautiful tribute at the end just summed him up beautifully. It was a sad, sad moment, but it was there for us to celebrate his life and his legacy.”

“I think for me, it's been comforting to watch him,” runner-up Rhiannon Anderson added. "And then to see that tribute, it just made everything feel final. So it was tough, it was actually really hard to watch."

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