The new season of MasterChef Australia is reportedly being urgently reviewed following the death of judge Jock Zonfrillo.
The late chef and while his family have given their blessing for the new series – which premiered on Sunday night after a delay – to air, producers are keen to make sure everything is just right.
As reported by The Australian, each episode is being examined to avoid any potential insensitivity, with a balance being struck between preserving his unique personality and not drawing any undue attention to Zonfrillo’s death.
‘There are two schools of thought,’ a source told the publication. ‘If there is too much of an edit, it can take away from what he was as well.’
The show made its prime time debut in a 7.30pm time slot over the weekend following a one-hour tribute to the late judge on Channel Ten’s The Sunday Project.
The did well in the 25-54 year old demographic, pulling in 345,000 viewers, and with 761,000 total viewers across the country, it beat the competition with Farmer Wants A Wife trailing behind with 609,000 viewers.
The penultimate episode of Lego Masters came in third with 567,000 people tuning in.
Meanwhile, the tribute show, which featured the likes of , also captured the attention with 610,000 people watching The Sunday Project – which a massive increase on the 246,000 tuning in the previous week.
When it came to the MasterChef episode itself, viewers were devastated as they watched Zonfrillo on what will be his final series.
‘I can’t get past this. Nup. I think it’s going to take me some time. My heart breaks,’ wrote one fan, while another shared a crying emoji and tweeted: ‘Every time Jock speaks.’
A third viewer added: ‘Jock said, “What a time to be alive”. Life is so precious and nobody knows what’s ahead. This comment from him is heartbreaking.’
