A couple's incredible reaction to finding out they had won big on the National Lottery has been captured as audio of the life-changing phone call is released.
Laura Hoyle, 40, and Kirk Stevens, 38, matched all five main numbers plus the Life Ball to win the top prize of £10,000 every month for 30 years in the Set For Life draw on 1 March 2021.
The couple, from Nottingham, were blown away by the news - and their amazing reaction has now been released in a video of their call with Camelot.
The call captures the shocked moment the couple hear confirmation that they’ve just become millionaires.
Laura is silent when she's told the win is real before saying "you're absolutely joking!"
Kirk captured Laura on the phone when the win was confirmed in footage where she can be seen covering her mouth with her hand in utter disbelief, her eyes wide with shock.
Recalling that life-changing conversation, Laura said: "I was physically shaking as I told the lady, ‘I think I’ve won the lottery.’
"It was so weird saying those words. I kept thinking this must be a joke; it can’t be happening to us. And the ridiculous part was that, as I waited for Camelot to call me back, I still had to join work meetings online. I could hardly speak, let alone make any sense."
Since the win, Laura has given up work and manufacturing engineer Kirk has paid for his Masters degree.
The couple have also bought a house and the winnings have enabled them to take their passion, ghost hunting, to the next level.
Reflecting on their life-changing moment one year on, Laura said: "It still hasn’t really sunk in. I say that, yet I immediately quit my job and I’m doing stuff I normally wouldn’t have been able to do. I guess it’s all still surreal.
"I am so chilled about everything now, very relaxed and that is what the win has done for me. We are moving into a new house in April and it’s so stress free because I don't work now. We’ve been fortunate during Covid to go away, and once Kirk has finished his Master degree in the Summer we are off to Disneyland Paris and lots of other exciting places."
Kirk added: "I’m in my last year of my Master’s degree in mechanical engineering. It’s been really hard at times to distance learn during Covid and it’s an expensive qualification and before the win I did, at times, question the investment.
"As Laura said, the win has enabled us to relax about bills. I have used the winnings to pay for the course. I want to continue working and progress which was the reason for the Masters."
One thing the couple have been able to do is indulge in their hobby of paranormal investigation.
Laura said: "Kirk and I are participating in lots more paranormal activities and I’m editing the videos we take which I absolutely love doing. I’m getting better and better at editing and the other month one of our videos was voted by a top ghost hunting YouTuber, one of his videos of the week. It’s as if I’m getting paid to video edit, for the next 30 years.
"Without the win we wouldn’t have been able to tick off a huge bucket list item - visit the National Justice Museum in Nottingham out-of-hours and spend time there investigating. There have been many trips and there will be many more."
Engineer Kirk is also a highly skilled carpenter, and he is going to use both talents to create a new business.
He said: "I want to make paranormal investigation products using my woodwork and electronic skills. I know what people want, I have the skill set and I now have the opportunity to make it work."
"Winning Set For Life has given us the best of both worlds. We are doing what we want to do and because we have this money every month, for life we are so chilled and relaxed about things, enabling us to keep our feet firmly on the ground."
Thinking back to the day Laura and Kirk’s life changed forever, Laura said: "I got an alert just after the draw saying there was ‘good news about my ticket’ but I just assumed I had won a fiver.
"I even kept on playing for several more Set For Life draws before I got an email from The National Lottery requesting I log into my account and check my messages. I thought that was odd and even asked Kirk whether he thought it was real or not.
"It was a Friday afternoon, I was working from home and I finally checked my account and saw there were lots of notifications there. It was then that the penny finally dropped that we should call Camelot fast!"
The celebrations started almost immediately, with Kirk popping open a bottle of Prosecco before Laura had even finished the call with Camelot.
Laura explained: "By the end of Friday evening, we had finished off four bottles of Prosecco. Kirk fell fast asleep, but my mind was racing, and I stayed awake all night. The only thing I could do was to watch movies, so I stayed up and watched the complete Divergent series, which helped pass six hours at least."
Having paid out almost £3billion in major prizes over the years, Camelot’s Andy Carter, Senior Winners’ Advisor at The National Lottery has seen every reaction possible.
Andy said: "I’ve seen every type of emotion when delivering the big news. Tears, laughter, screaming, absolute silence and total disbelief - just like Laura’s reaction."
Set For Life is a draw-based game from The National Lottery. You pick five main numbers from 1 to 47, and one ‘Life Ball’ from 1 to 10, for the chance to win fixed prizes – with everything from the top prize of £10,000 a month for 30 years, to the 2nd prize of £10,000 a month for one year and £5 for matching just two main numbers.
The Set For Life game costs £1.50 per line and is drawn every Monday and Thursday.
By playing any National Lottery game, players generate more than £30million each week for National Lottery-funded projects.
