“WEDDING JOY TURNED TO ASHES!”: Devastated MasterChef judge Sofia Levin ignites a massive media firestorm and leaves millions of fans completely paralyzed with grief after breaking down in floods of tears and bravely exposing the shattering, highly tragic untold family nightmare ruthlessly ruining her highly anticipated big day
“It’s so tough”: MasterChef’s Sofia Levin rocked by wedding day heartache
It’s been a bittersweet time.
Sofia Levin is still basking in the afterglow of her engagement to handsome Melbourne psychologist Dr Beau Growcott.
But as the couple begin planning their wedding, the MasterChef Australia judge is understandably devastated that her late father, Greg, will be missing from her big day.
“It’s tough and so unfair. Sofia wishes her dad was here to give her away. But she knows he’ll be by her side in spirit,” a source tells us.
Although Sofia, 36, is keeping details of the day close to her chest, it’s thought that she’ll likely look to include a tribute to Greg in some way.
Sources suspect she might display his beautiful photos as a “special touch”. While Greg was a noted Melbourne doctor, he was a talented hobby photographer who meticulously captured his family’s milestones and overseas holidays.
To keep his memory close, Sofia treasures a deeply personal relic: a 20-year album of Levin family Christmas cards compiled by her mother, Abby, which showcases Greg’s brilliant work.
Greg was just 65 when he passed away on July 8, 2024, after a 30-month battle with motor neurone disease (MND). His death occurred less than a year after his daughter was cast on MasterChef.
In a raw appearance on Ruby Hall’s Inherited podcast, Sofia admitted that, “One of my greatest learnings from all of this … is just how joy and grief can exist at the same time.”
During the candid chat, Sofia reflected on entering a new chapter of her life that didn’t include her beloved father.
“We had the most amazing relationship,” Sofia said.
She remembers Greg as a “quiet sort of funny” man and the ultimate caregiver, a “drop everything, feed his kids sort of guy”.
This devotion was beautifully anchored in their weekly traditions, like their Friday night Shabbat dinners. Sofia fondly recalls her whole family gathering around a massive 12-seater black marble table, eating chicken soup and sharing stories in a warm, loving environment.
The food critic also shared new details of the heartbreaking timeline of her loss. She explained to host Ruby that she’d separated from her first husband in September 2021, only for Greg to receive his terminal diagnosis the following January.
Having to navigate a divorce with her father’s rapid decline meant Sofia had barely any time to mourn the end of her marriage.
She was also still grieving Greg when she reconnected with Beau, an old school friend whom she then began dating. In an Instagram post last December, Sofia explained she had spent the year learning how to “hold opposites” like “carrying grief in my pocket while falling in love”.
Despite the immense weight of her grief, Sofia continues to push forward.
“I feel like I should be in the fetal position on the floor … but we just kind of do stuff, we’re doers,” she told Ruby.
As she steps towards married life with Beau, Sofia is firmly guided by her father’s ultimate life lesson.
“He was just so content with his life … that he didn’t want to change anything,” Sofia revealed. “And that is how I want to live.”