Throughout MasterChef Australia 2025, viewers witnessed plenty of emotional moments as Laura Sharrad reflected on how Jock Zonfrillo shaped her cooking — a connection that goes back to her first season in 2014.
Laura reached the grand finale in MasterChef Australia Season 6, which was judged by Gary Mehigan, George Calombaris and Matt Preston, but lost out to Brent Owens. After leaving the show, Laura went on to work for the late Jock Zonfrillo at Orana Restaurant.
Coincidentally, Jock joined MasterChef Australia as a judge in 2019, one year before Laura returned for her second try at the trophy for MasterChef Australia 2020: Back to Win.
Jock passed away in 2023, and Andy Allen, Sofia Levine, Poh Ling Yeow and Jean-Christophe Novelli took on the judging roles from the 2024 season. Those four were on the judging panel when Laura finally won the show during the 2025 season.
In a post-win interview, Laura reflected on Jock’s influence on her career and how it helped shape her skills enough to finally claim a MasterChef Australia win.
“Orana was the first restaurant that I worked in straight after the Season 6 finale. It was my first real full-time job, my first job in hospitality and my first job learning how to cook food that I didn’t grow up with,” she said.
“Learning from Jock and the chefs at Orana was like learning a whole new way of cooking. It kind of felt like I was learning to cook again for the first time so it’s very natural that his cooking continues to live on through my food.
“I feel very fortunate to have a platform like MasterChef that he was also a part of, and to be able to continue to cook the food that I love that’s so heavily influenced by the food that he loved too.”
Laura on her personal growth on MasterChef Australia 2025
Laura was on maternity leave when she received the call to compete on MasterChef Australia 2025: Back to Win. Despite the obvious personal obstacles, Laura agreed to return and had her young daughter, Florence, with her throughout the long filming stint.
Laura told Chattr that she she had a lot of personal growth during the MasterChef Australia 2025 season, and attributes a lot of that to having her daughter by her side.
“Walking through the doors of the MasterChef kitchen this season, I was so ready and eager to tackle the competition. I felt really confident within myself to make it to the end,” she said.
“Looking back and reflecting on the experience, I feel like I grew the most in a personal sense.
“Perhaps because I had my daughter Floss [Florence] with me while filming, and I had to be there for her full-time when the cameras went rolling, I really grew as a mum and as an individual.”
Congratulations to Laura for winning MasterChef Australia 2025!
Stream MasterChef Australia 2025 on 10Play.
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