MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo defends claims made in new memoir, Last Shot
Scottish-born MasterChef Australia judge, Jock Zonfrillo released his memoir Last Shot recently, but has found himself defending the claims he has made in the book.
Zonfrillo has been accused by some detractors as straying from the truth as he documented his rise from drug addiction to sought after chef in some of the world’s best kitchens.
Simon & Schuster, the book’s publisher is standing by Zonfrillo, stating, 'Last Shot is a memoir, which, by its very definition, is a historical account written from the personal knowledge of the subject writing it’.
The publisher has also indicated it would consider legal action should these claims cost them book sales.
The controversy surrounding Zonfrillo’s claims stem from an article in Saturday’s Good Weekend, in which the celebrity chef was accused of 'self-mythologising' and changing past stories.
The article also quotes some of his former colleagues as saying that some of Zonfrillo’s stories 'differ markedly' from the way they remembered them.
Zonfrillo, whose real name is Barry, named chef Marco Pierre White in his memoir as 'a father figure' who saved his life. However, White allegedly told Good Weekend that they weren’t that close.
'Jock is not a bad man,' White said. 'He has a natural intellect and he's very nice. I never saw much of [Zonfrillo], and he worked in my kitchen for a very short time.'
Zonfrillo says he will not back down from any claims made in Last Shot.
Simon & Schuster has described Last Shot as ''a coming-of-age memoir of addiction, ambition and redemption in the high-stakes world of Michelin star kitchens”.
Zonfrillo has spoken at length about his nine-year heroin addiction. He has been clean for two decades now.
“This is the story of my life,' he told Daily Mail Australia in a statement. 'I've lived every minute of it, the highs and lows, and I stand by it.
“There's no question that some of my book makes me look pretty unsavoury at the best of times. I carry the shame from those years, not pride, and it was a big obstacle for me to overcome when writing this book.”
In Last Shot, Zonfrillo writes that he started as a kitchen hand when he was 12, was cooking at the same restaurant within three weeks, was introduced to cocaine a year later by two French chefs at a different restaurant, gained a chef’s apprenticeship when he was 15,m quickly developed a heroin addiction, sold drugs to supplement his wages and went to work for Marco Pierre White in 1994, who Zonfrillo claims shaped his life.
Zonfrillo has been in Australia as a permanent resident since 1999 and has been clean since leaving England.
Irit Jackson, 11th August 2021
