It's something many of us have dreamed of - popping down to the local shop and buying a lottery ticket, winning and becoming a multimillionaire overnight. But for one lucky British couple, that far-fetched dream became reality on May 10 when they scooped £184 million on the EuroMillions lottery.
And now, the lucky couple have decided to go public with their win. We can reveal that the UK's biggest ever lottery winners are Joe and Jess Thwaite from Gloucester. The couple, aged 49 and 44, have been married for 11 years and have two children in primary school, whilst Joe also has two grown-up children from a previous relationship.
The pair broke the record for the highest amount of most won in a lottery game in the UK by more than £14 million and have been celebrating ever since. They bought their EuroMillions Lucky Dip ticket on the National Lottery App and received an email the following morning to tell them about their win. Today (Thursday, May 19), they're attending a press conference at Ellenborough Park hotel in Cheltenham to spill the beans on their incredible win.
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Jess, who works as a business manager at a hair salon she runs with her sister, said: "The win gives us time to dream which we haven't had before. We’ve had one week to think about this and we now have time to share lots of experiences and go on adventures with our family and friends."
"My dad played the National Lottery all his life and constantly dreamed of winning," she added. "He'd always ask us what we'd do when we won, how we'd spend it, who we'd treat. It was a regular conversation and I feel like he was preparing us!
"I normally buy them [tickets] when it’s a good amount, so when there’s a lot of money I’ll put it on," Joe told PA. "I use the app, and have a quick check a couple of times a week and I’ll put it on. But generally my luck is pretty terrible, to be honest with you!"
Camelot’s Andy Carter, senior winners’ advisor at The National Lottery said last week's UK win was "absolutely incredible news". "History has been made," he said. "Our focus now is on supporting the ticket-holder through the process and helping them start to enjoy their truly life-changing and record-breaking win."
Joe and Jess won the huge sum after matching all seven numbers on the EuroMillions. The numbers were: 3, 25, 27, 28 and 29 – plus the Lucky Star numbers 4 and 9. Their exact winnings were £184,262,899.10.
The winners' reveal comes a day after Camelot, the company that organises the National Lottery, confirmed that the couple had decided to go public with their win. With their new £184-million worth, the couple are now wealthier than Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne and his music manager wife Sharon, who have £150 million between them, and singer Adele whose estimated worth is £130million.
The previous record for a lottery win in the UK was £170million, won by a single ticketholder in October 2019. That winner chose to stay anonymous - but the new record-holders decided to spill all on their incredible win.
