Scottish chef Jock Zonfrillo, winner of the 2018 Basque Culinary World Prize and one of the renowned stars of the MasterChef Australia program, died suddenly in Melbourne at the age of 46, family sources said Monday.

"With our hearts totally broken and not knowing how we can continue to live without him, we are devastated to report that Jock passed away yesterday," said a statement posted Monday on Zonfrillo's Instagram account.

Without giving details of the cause of death, the family asked that his mourning and privacy be respected.

Australian television network Network 10 and the producer of the MasterChef Australia program said in a joint statement that they are "deeply shocked by the sudden death of Jock Zonfrillo."

Also, MasterChef Australia announced the postponement of the transmission of the new season of the series, which would premiere this Monday, and said it will not air episodes throughout this week.

Born in Glasgow, Scotland, to an Italian father and Scottish mother, Zonfrillo became an apprentice at a renowned restaurant in his native country at the age of fifteen and subsequently joined the gastronomic team of renowned British chef Marco Pierre White, as well as other world-famous restaurants.

After moving to Australia in 2000, Zonfrillo opened the Blackwood Bistro and Orana restaurant in Adelaide, and also created the Orana Foundation to preserve Aboriginal gastronomic knowledge.

His restaurant Orana, named by Gourmet Traveller magazine as Restaurant of the Year in 2018, was recognised with three hats in 2019, by the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age Guide to Good Food.

Zonfrillo's fame reached Spain, where he became known at the San Sebastián Gastronomika 2016 festival thanks to his work in the recovery of the culinary traditions of the Australian aborigines and, two years later, he won the Basque Culinary World Prize, which seeks to distinguish chefs with "transformative initiatives".

"Jock's charisma, sharp sense of humor, generosity, passion and love for food and his family cannot be measured. He will be sorely missed," MasterChef Australia posted on Facebook as he paid tribute to Zonfrillo, who was a judge on that show in 2019.

In recent years, Zonfrillo, who leaves behind his wife Lauren Fried and four children, was plunged into several financial problems that forced him to close his restaurants – including the Orana – during covid-19.

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