A couple who secured a record- breaking £184 million EuroMillions win have revealed they bought the ticket last minute "when it's a good jackpot". Joe and Jess Thwaite, aged 49 and 44, from Gloucester say they plan to "share lots of experiences" with their two primary-age children.
Joe, a communications sales engineer, says he is the one who regularly buys the ticket, despite usually having "terrible luck". The communications sales engineer originally mistook an email notifying him he had won a prize as a lucky dip, until he "started counting the digits".
He then realised he had in fact won a "life-changing" amount. Camelot confirmed it had received a claim on Wednesday for the £184,262,899.10 EuroMillions jackpot prize won by a single UK ticket-holder in the draw on Tuesday.
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Joe says he is the one who regularly buys the ticket, despite usually having "terrible luck". He said: “I normally buy them when it’s a good amount, so when there’s a lot of money I’ll put it on. I use the app, and have a quick check a couple of times a week and I’ll put it on."
His wife Jess, who manages a hairdressing salon she runs with her sister, added: “He tries to convince me to buy them thinking I’ll have more luck, but actually it’s him. 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.”
Joe says the couple have been planning to move house for some time and now he is looking forward to "not setting limits to what they can afford". He added: "In the past everything we’ve kind of wanted is far beyond what we can afford so I thought I don’t need to filter, I can actually just look at anything".
Camelot’s Andy Carter, senior winners’ advisor at The National Lottery, said: “This is absolutely incredible news. Last night saw history made with the biggest ever National Lottery prize won by a single UK ticket-holder, and we’re ecstatic that we’ve now received a claim.
“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.”
This is the second EuroMillions jackpot won in the UK this year, with the £109 million jackpot from the draw on February 4. While the previous record was held by an anonymous ticket-holder who banked £170 million in October 2019.
