As British couple become biggest EuroMillions winners EVER – here’s how other lucky Brits have spent their winnings
MILLIONS of Brits dream of bagging a fortune with a huge win on the EuroMillions lottery but the perennial question remains of what to do with all that cash.
Joe Thwaite, 49, and wife Jess, 44, will be asking themselves that after winning £184million in the EuroMillions.
The couple, of Gloucestershire, announced their win today and said they plan to spend some of it on adventures for them and their two primary-aged children.
Here’s how some previous big winners have splashed their EuroMillions cash.
JANE PARK
Edinburgh’s Jane Park, then 17, hit the headlines when she became one of Britain’s youngest winners of the EuroMillions with a lucky dip ticket back in 2013, winning £1m.
One of the first things she spend her money on was getting a £4,500 boob job, going from a 34B to 36FF.
She splashed some of the cash in 2021 on getting her “” with the help of a plastic surgeon at the Trio Clinic in Istanbul, Turkey, where she underwent liposuction and had her "redone" after a botched operation in 2017.
She showed off the results on her bum and stomach in a topless video on social media.
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In a bid to find love, Jane also launched a website where lads could apply to date her.
The person lucky enough to become her boyfriend was get an annual "allowance" of £60,000 to wine and dine her.
The offer came after Jane suffered a string of failed relationships.
She briefly dated X Factor reject Sam Callahan but their relationship came to an abrupt end when he snogged a singer in front of her at a party.
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She then had a brief fling with reality star Brian Matthews, who posted a picture of them in bed together, but it turned out to be little more than that.
COLIN WEIR
Colin Weir and his then wife Chris won a sizeable £161m back in 2011.
He managed to get through £40m of his £80m share in just eight years.
When the dad-of-two died aged 71 in 2019 he had a £10,000 stake in Irn-Bru and more than £20,000 invested in Greggs.
Kind-hearted Colin also shared around his good fortune and giving away thousands to friends and family as well as donating generously to charity.
He also bought a 55 per cent share in the Partick Thistle Football Club a month before he died, as he had been a lifelong supporter.
Colin made a £2.5m investment, and his shares equated to £272k, which helped set up the Thistle Weir Youth Academy and a section of Firhill Stadium was named the Colin Weir Stand.
In 2014 he also contributed millions to the SNP party and backed the pro-independence campaign.
He lived in his £1.1m seafront property in Ayr, which he bought in June 2018 following the end of his relationship to wife Chris.
His will shows that he had furniture, jewellery and artworks valued at around £212,000, as well as four cars.
He owned a vintage Bentley Arnage, worth £10,000, a £28,250 three-year-old Jaguar F-Pace SUV, a £24,000 four-year-old Mercedes Benz E Class Estate and a 2019 Mercedes Benz V Class people carrier, valued at around £35,000.
Colin also took a part-ownership of three thoroughbreds, which included five-year-old geldings Knighted, £2,500, Felony, £1,675, as well as winning Irish mare If You Say Run, £4,000.
He had also purchased around £3.5m-worth of property on the Isle of Man, and a varied portfolio of around £12.3m.
His investments were stakes in Microsoft - £20,368, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton - £19,230, Estée Lauder - £19,813, Tesco, - £19,562, AG Barr, creators of Irn-Bru - £10,040 and bakery chain Greggs - £22,950.
There was also a significant stake of around £400,000 in tax-advantage Enterprise Investment Schemes, where individuals can buy into small and medium companies for generous tax relief.
GILLIAN BAYFORD
Gillian Bayford’s life changed after scooping £148m with her then-husband Adrian Bayford in 2012.
Being a keen motor lover she splashed part of her winnings on a fleet of supercars which included 10 Audis and a £150,000 Bentley Bentayga.
She also forked out almost £1.2million on a Victorian mansion with six bedrooms and a footie pitch-sized garden.
The lavish pad also boasts three reception rooms, a gazebo, a triple garage and a greenhouse.
Among her other property purchases was a
She also set up her own property business following her split with Adrian.
In 2016 she bought a new home for a four-year-old disabled boy and his "inspirational" mum to live in - as well as promising to foot the bill for any adaptations.
FRANCES CONNOLLY
Frances Connolly won an impressive £115m after her numbers came up in 2019.
The former teacher decided to give more than half of it away having admitted she was “addicted to giving”.
The mum-of-three has already blown through her annual charity budget she agreed for this year with husband Paddy, 57.
The couple have exhausted the allocated amount they planned to give away over the next decade - and Frances has no plans to slow down.
She admitted in April this year she just can't resist sharing her good fortune, saying: "It gives you a buzz. I'm addicted to it now."
The caring couple have now dished out £50million to families and £10m to charities for young carers, refugees and the elderly.
Generous Frances has launched two of her own charitable foundations, ensuring her gift to give back can plough on.
CATHERINE BULL
Catherine Bull and husband Gareth won £40.6m on the EuroMillions lottery in 2012.
At the time of their win, they joked they were the most “boring multimillionaires”.
Catherine said she wanted a new carpet for the six-bedroom home he had just built and have her hair done twice a year.
But he splashed out on a huge hospitality box at Old Trafford and another at Wembley.
They also bought a holiday villa in Tenerife.
The Sun reported in April 2017 that builder Gareth had moved out of their home and was living in a three-bedroom cottage 1.5 miles away.
NEIL TROTTER
Neil Trotter, a mechanic from Coulsdon won £107.9m in 2014.
With his winnings he bought a Grade II-listed mansion with its own lake and set in 400 acres of land.
But speaking to the BBC in 2019 he admitted he had “struggled” to cope with his wealth.
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He said: "It's been a bit of a struggle, adjusting to having so much money but this is the dream, it was my dream to buy a big house with some land and a lake.
"I've always worked all my life so going from having to work to not having to work anymore was quite a strange thing to adjust to and I soon found out sitting at home watching telly all day was going to be quite boring."
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