MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo is focusing on family in the wake of the controversy surrounding his memoir, Last Shot.
The 45-year-old dad took to Instagram on Monday to share an adorable snap of two of his children in matching Bluey pyjamas.
“Isn’t it strange how they’ve only been asleep for 3 hours and I already miss them?” he captioned the too-cute photo.
“I’m looking at photos of them on my phone – surely I can’t be the only parent who does this!?”
“These two love each other so much – Alfie wouldn’t stop pestering us to have his wee sister share his bedroom, we caved in eventually & now they’re inseparable.”
Jock shares Alfie, three, and Isla, almost one, with wife Lauren Fried, and has two older daughters from previous relationships.
In a recent memoir excerpt published in Woman’s Day, Jock opened up about how he “spilled his guts” to Laura about his previous marriages on their first date.
“I found myself spilling my guts, just telling her everything I didn’t want her to find out later on: the drugs, the failed marriages, my daughters Ava and Sofia, from previous marriages,” the celebrity chef wrote.
“Looking back, I was maybe a bit too intense about the whole thing, but I somehow already knew that this was the real thing.”
Fortunately, Laura felt the same and the pair soon fell in love, wed and welcomed their two gorgeous children into the world.
Now, Jock’s most recent photo of their little cuties has been flooded with sweet and supportive comments from other parents.
With his Instagram page usually dominated by cooking videos and posts about his work, fans were excited for a glimpse into Jock’s family life.
However, this shift comes not long after the celebrity chef faced an uncomfortable controversy.
Allegations have been made about Jock’s recollections in parts of his memoir.
Writer Tim Elliot claimed in an explosive Good Weekend piece that some of Jock’s stories about his career differed from the recollections of other chefs.
The publisher of Jock’s memoir said the chef was “very upset” about the allegations and strongly denied the claims in the Good Weekend piece.
Jock poses with his memoir Last Shot.
(Instagram)Simon & Schuster’s managing director Dan Ruffino told the Sydney Morning Herald: “We work intimately with the writer and fact check everything.”
“We see what’s on the public record, we pick up any inconsistencies and run anything legally contentious via lawyers… It’s something we take very seriously.”
In another statement, Simon & Schuster said: “Jock Zonfrillo stands by the historical account he has given in his book.”
Jock himself added in the statement: “This is the story of my life… I’ve lived every minute of it, the highs and lows, and I stand by it.”
On August 14 the publisher shared a further statement, in which Jock said: “I have been really taken aback by all the people who have reached out to me this week, both friends and strangers.
“Bringing these darker parts of my life into sharp focus was already more painful than I thought it would be, and I never would have expected people to connect to my story the way they have.”
Fellow chef Marco Pierre White, who was quoted in the original Good Weekend piece added: “Over the years many things have been written and said about Jock Zonfrillo some of them kind and some very unkind.
“It saddens me when my words and my quotes have been taken out of context. The truth is he is one of the most talented chefs in Australia today and his contribution to gastronomy has been enormous.”
