‘MasterChef Australia’ Judge Blasts Racist Man Who Called Fellow Asian Judge a ‘Gook’

‘MasterChef Australia’ Judge Blasts Racist Man Who Called Fellow Asian Judge a ‘Gook’‘MasterChef Australia’ Judge Blasts Racist Man Who Called Fellow Asian Judge a ‘Gook’
A Scottish chef judge in “MasterChef Australia: Back to Win” called out a viewer on Instagram for sending him a private message that referred to his fellow judge Melissa Leong as a “gook.”
What happened: Chef Jock Zonfrillo condemned viewer Graham Jones for not seeing “past the colour of someone’s skin” and urged him to “be a better human” after Jones sent him a private message criticizing the show on June 24.
  • “Geez I will be glad when this dumb A*se MasterChef finishes I wouldn’t watch it but sick of while watching 10 other programs having to watch trailers of you and that painful gook criticise what is put in front of you because a pea is in the wrong place half the stuff no one would ever make Geez you are so far up yourselves,” Jones wrote.
  • Zonfrillo stood up for Leong and exposed Jones’ words in a social media post, warning others that he will not tolerate similar messages in the future.
  • “She’s actually Melissa, she’s my work wife, my sister, my mate, she drinks espresso like I do, she is able to express and articulate a damn sight better than you can clearly and that is just the beginning Graham,” Zonfrillo wrote. “She’s a woman whose origin happens to be different than yours, but why does that make you so afraid? I feel sorry for you that you cannot see past the colour of someone’s skin or actually the fact they are just different than your White a** in any way.”
  • Leong, 38, was born in Sydney and is of Singaporean-Chinese heritage. She co-hosted “The Chefs’ Line” with chefs Dan Hong and Mark Olive for two seasons in 2017 and 2018.
The aftermath: Leong expressed gratitude towards her co-judge and received multiple messages of support.
  • “We have such a long way to go as a nation, if we think racism doesn’t exist. Thank you for being an ally, a friend and an awesome work husband,” Leong responded to Zonfrillo’s post.
  • British pastry chef Darren Purchese also weighed in, praising Zonfrillo for calling out the racist comment and supporting Leong’s and the team’s hard work.
  • “When blatant racism tries to stay in the shadows, you get a big torch. Well done @zonfrillo,” Googlebox star Symon Lovett wrote.
  • Other Instagram users also left encouraging messages to Leong.
  • “You are all class Mel and the perfect example of what a strong, confident, passionate, educated and fun-loving Aussie girl is,” a user wrote. “You are a breath of fresh air on TV and I just love your passion and knowledge when it comes to food. We need more people like you that celebrates life and people.”
Feature Images via @zonfrillo
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