MasterChef Australia judges Jock Zonfrillo, Andy Allen deny bias

MasterChef’s premiere revealed judges Andy Allen and Jock Zonfrillo both had close friends competing in the show, but deny this will affect their judgments in any way

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Masterchef judges Jock Zonfrillo and Andy Allen have defended their close relationships with two contestants, saying their history will not affect their judging.

Zonfrillo, chef/owner at top South Australian restaurant Orana, hired season six runner up Laura Sharrad for two years, while season four winner Allen and fellow contestant Ben Milbourne are close friends and went on to star in their own cooking show together, Ben and Andy Eat Australia.

Gordon Ramsay with new judges Andy Allen, Melissa Leong and Jock Zonfrillo. Picture: Channel 10

But despite these close connections, both judges claim they will only judge the food that is put before them, not the people who made it, with Zonfrillo even saying it may be a disadvantage.

“My job in MasterChef is to judge each plate of food that is put in front of me, not the person who made it,” Zonfrillo told Confidential.

“I said it in the first tasting, there is no favouritism, just to be clear.’

“If anything Laura will be at a disadvantage carrying the weight of cooking for her mentor.”

Sharrad agreed that Zonfrillo judging would, if anything, disadvantage her by adding extra pressure.

New MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo

Laura Sharrad. Picture: MasterChef/Network 10

“Having worked under Jock and being mentored by him has definitely put more pressure on me to do perform well this year,” she said.

“Jock has always been very honest when critiquing my food, and I expect nothing less from him on MasterChef this year.

“If anything I think it’s a disadvantage as his expectations will be extremely high.”

Similarly, Allen said he had made friends with many of the show’s contestants since his 2012 win and that there would be no favouritism.

“Over the last eight years I’ve worked with and developed friendships with a lot of the contestants on this year’s season,” he said.

Judge Andy Allen with contestant Ben Milbourne.

“However, we judge the plate of food that is put in front of us and not the person that puts it there.

“They’re all amazing people, but there’s no favouritism whatsoever when it comes to the food.”

Milbourne, who became emotional in episode one when talking on his friend’s success, said Allen respected the show and contestants too much to ever allow bias.

“Andy is one of, if not the most respectful person I know and to allow his opinion to be swayed one way or the other would be disrespectful toward the show we both love so much and the contestants we respect,” he said.

The pair had a show on SBS called Ben and Andy Eat Australia.

“Andy knows more than anyone what I am capable of in a kitchen which gives him great insight to how I work and whether I have done the best job I can but that is also the reason why we all think he will make a fantastic judge, because he has true insight of what it is like to be in those challenges.

“For whether that will sway his judging positively or negatively in my case is a complete non starter.”

The issue is a unique one despite the show being in its 12th season as the show’s rules dictate that entrants on MasterChef must be amateur cooks with no commercial cooking experience.

Therefore, in the past there would have been little chance contestants and judges would have crossed paths.

Originally published as MasterChef Australia judges Jock Zonfrillo, Andy Allen deny bias