MasterChef Australia star Andy Allen has praised Lauren Zonfrillo, the widow of his late co-star Jock.

Jock, who was found dead aged 46 in a Melbourne hotel room in 2023, co-judged alongside Andy on hit cooking show MasterChef Australia from 2020 up until his death.

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Andy, 37, shared a photo that showed him holding a copy of Lauren’s recently released book Till Death Do Us Part, in which she candidly opens up about life after Jock.

Andy praised Lauren’s candid account, offering a simple six word review.

‘In awe of you @laurenzonfrillo,’ Andy wrote, while urging his 385,000 followers to pick up a copy of the memoir.

It comes after Andy recently opened up about his final meeting with Jock, revealing he saw the late celebrity chef just a couple of hours before he died.

MasterChef Australia star Andy Allen has praised Lauren Zonfrillo, the widow of his late co-star Jock

In a sit-down interview with 7NEWS Spotlight earlier this month, Andy, 37, recalled how he met Jock for lunch the day before his body was discovered.

‘I’ve got hairs standing up already,’ he told Liz Hayes as he looked back on his and Jock’s final meal together, a moment he reflects back on a lot.

Andy went on to reveal he had no idea that there was anything amiss during his last meeting with the celebrity chef.

‘That’s the thing that hurts the most,(be)cause it was so sudden,’ he told Liz with tears in his eyes.

Elsewhere in the heartbreaking interview, Andy recounted the moment he was given the news of Jock’s passing by Lauren.

The chef admitted the grief of losing his close friend hit him ‘straight away’, a feeling that made him instantly ill.

‘As soon as I got off the phone, I ran straight to the bathroom and I vomited everywhere,’ he said.

Andy also shared how he still grieves his friend daily.

Jock, who was found dead aged 46 in a Melbourne hotel room in 2023. He is pictured here with his wife Lauren

Taking to Instagram on Thursday, Andy, 37, shared a photo that showed him holding a copy of Lauren’s recently released book Till Death Do Us Part, in which she candidly opens up about life after Jock

‘I always think of him. And I miss him, I miss him so much. It’s crazy that that never goes,’ he said.

‘That being reminded of him wherever I go and no matter what I do, it is still as strong as the day that he passed two years ago.’

Andy’s raw on-screen moment comes after he shared a heartfelt tribute to his late co-star on the second anniversary of his death.

He also recently shared a throwback photo to social media of he and Jock together and captioned it with some bittersweet words.

‘Two years since we lost the great man, Jock Zonfrillo. I miss him more than ever,’ Andy wrote.

Last year, Andy told how it was ‘really difficult’ grieving in the public eye.

‘It was the hardest time of my life, I had never had tragedy like that hit me so close, it was very uncharted waters and multiply that by it being in the public eye; it was really difficult,’ he told the Herald Sun.

‘In awe of you @laurenzonfrillo,’ Andy wrote, while urging his 385,000 followers to pick up a copy of the memoir. Pictured: Lauren and Jock Zonfrillo

Andy recently opened up about his final meeting with Jock Zonfrillo , revealing that he saw the late celebrity chef just a couple of hours before he died

Andy detailed his heavy emotional toll and told how he spent a ‘full day crying’ after travelling to Sicily to mark Jock’s birthday.

‘I spent a full day just crying, in a couple of hour increments, just having a good old cry, then I would be quiet… then I would go again,’ he shared.

Jock was found dead at the Zagame’s House hotel in Carlton, near Melbourne’s CBD, at around 2am on May 1, 2023.

At the time, his wife Lauren was in Italy with their two children and had phoned Victoria Police to request a welfare check because he stopped answering her calls.

Jock’s death came just one day before the 2023 season of MasterChef was due to premiere, and it was delayed in arriving on air for a week ‘out of respect’.