MasterChef Australia judge and chef Jock Zonfrillo sadly passed away in April 2023, and is survived by his wife Lauren and two children Alfie and Isla.
Lauren Zonfrillo has since opened up about her journey with grief in her new book titled ‘Till Death Do Us Part’, which is due for release in May.
In a 7 News Spotlight exclusive, Liz Hayes sat down in her 7 News Spotlight debut with Lauren to reflect on all things grief, family and seeking hope during these terrible times.
Speaking on The Morning Show, Liz shared a glimpse into the interview, which unpacks what became Lauren’s devastating reality when she was holidaying in Rome with her two younger kids, the day before MasterChef was to be launched.
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“It’s really painful, but not without hope story,” the renowned journalist continued.
As it is the first time Lauren has spoken out, she connected with Liz to share the journey of writing her book, and living in the public spectacle that was her husband’s death.
“It was hard for her, I think she thought she was right and ready, but I don’t think you can avoid taking yourself back to that moment. It’s just emotional and I don’t think that goes away,” Liz continued.
“Jock’s unexpected and very public death was devastating and traumatising and in the glare of intense media speculation, and Lauren also had to grapple with why her husband had died,” Liz Hayes commented.
“She bravely opens the door to her very private and personal pain and the trauma endured by her two little children.”
HAS JOCK ZONFRILLO’S CAUSE OF DEATH BEEN REVEALED?
In the emotional special, Jock’s wife spoke on the night where everything changed, when she was trying to contact her husband but received no response.
“I was now hysterical,” she shared, with police now called to do a welfare check to the hotel room.
The police reported that a “deceased male” had been found in his hotel room.
Whilst there has been a lot of discussion around Jock and his cause of death, Lauren promised that she would not reveal his cause of death out of privacy for him and her family.
“I now don’t want to make those decisions of what he does and doesn’t want to talk about, if it wasn’t in the public domain in any way, or comments about anything that he hasn’t brought up before,” Lauren shared.
PARENTING WITH GRIEF
Lauren gives viewers an insight into how much she struggled with the day-to-day and parenting after Jock’s death.
“I was trying to avoid my kids, actually. It was just such hard work. I would go out for dinner by myself once a week… solo date night… and I’d just sit and write and I’d probably go out another night with a friend… babysitter after babysitter after babysitter.”
Alfie and Isla were just six and three when their dad died. “These kids were a gang who just wanted these babysitters gone. They wanted me. And so I would get home, and they were nowhere near bed, and it was just an absolute mess and they were doing it on purpose and I just kept going out.”
Finally, she realised what she was doing. “My therapist, she said… ‘you tapped out of parenting and you tapped into you’. And I was really offended by that,”
“And she realised what she’d said and sort of unpacked it for me. And she said, ‘you had to tap out of something and you couldn’t tap out of you because you had to build you and your mind and body back to be able to tap back into parenting… and the kids were durable, they’ll be okay… you need some time’.
“And that was actually great advice because it’s extremely selfish and it is in a way you abandoned the children in a time of need. But she said, ‘you have no strength to do it, so that’s not bad’.”
Her upcoming book will dive deeper into the world of grief and navigating the tough journey of life after loss.
LAUREN ZONFRILLO’S NEW BOOK
In Lauren’s Instagram post announcing the release of the book, Lauren wrote:
“I am no psychologist — I am not even a writer. But I have written a book, Till Death Do Us Part.
“This is a book of my lived experience through traumatic loss, the kind of support that I was reaching out for in the shadows of grief, and being homesick for a life that didn’t exist anymore.
“And for those going through loss, I am writing this book so that your hands can land on it when you are reaching out in the darkness for something, anything, that might give you stability. Loz”
Till Death Do Us Part is available for pre-order now through this link. Or available in store and online 6 May 2025.
7NEWS Spotlight airs tonight at 8.00 pm on Seven and 7plus.
