Jock Zonfrillo’s tasting prank sends contestant Justin into a spin

Jock Zonfrillo channelled Matt Preston in tonight’s tense elimination, causing a contestant to collapse to the floor after a dramatic moment.

While nothing can come close to Matt Preston’s iconic “disgustingly good” moment from MasterChef season two, Jock Zonfrillo had a crack at sending a contestant’s heart racing tonight.

After a cook which saw contestant Justin in anguish over whether his chicken was cooked through, the three judges decided to toy with his emotions with a tense tasting session in which they almost had him convinced the meat was raw.

RELATED: Melissa’s brutal take on ‘hot mess’ Trent

Justin was visibly anxious as Jock Zonfrillo cut into his dish. Picture: Channel 10

Dramatically cutting into the bird with a look of disappointment, while Andy Allen and Melissa Leong shot looks of pity, the chef said: “You wanna come and have a look at what you did … or didn’t do?”

RELATED: Fans go wild for fiery Mel moment

Melissa Leong played along with Jock's gag. Picture: Channel 10

An Oscar-worthy performance. Picture: Channel 10

As Justin gingerly approached the bench, the show went to an ad break.

Returning to the tasting, Jock continued. “What you didn’t do … is over or undercook it, it’s bloody perfect!” he exclaimed to an anxious-looking Justin, who jokingly dropped to the floor in relief.

Justin fell to the ground after the dramatic moment. Picture: Channel 10

While not quite as intense, it was a MasterChef moment that harked back to the pure artistry that was Matt Preston’s plate smash while tasting Aaron Harvie’s experimental fennel and prawn tortellini with chipotle truffle oil.

To refresh your memory, the season two episode saw Matt so visibly repulsed by the dish that he threw the plate to the ground after one bite.

“There are some dishes that are freakish Frankenstein disasters,” he began.

“And quite frankly THAT is disgusting,” he added, dropping the plate mid-sentence.

Skipping right to an ad break, viewers were left wondering how the pasta dish could go so wrong despite the other judge’s positive reviews.

But, just before Aaron could slink back to his station, Matt continued: “Disgustingly good.

“Now I’ve destroyed that because I don’t want any of these guys over there to taste it because that’s absolutely brilliant and inspired. That’s a really, really, really clever dish. That is brilliant.”

We can only hope Jock continues to up his game to beat the masterful tasting prank.

MasterChef Australia continues Sunday night at 7.30pm on Channel 10