I’ve handled £2bn of lotto wins & know first hand how it can end relationships, break up families & send you spiralling
A LOTTO boss who has handled £2billion worth of wins has revealed how a big scoop can be both a blessing - and a curse.
Over 18 years, Andy Carter, 50, has helped more than 2,000 people who landed prizes of more than £50,000 adjust to their new lifestyles.
But while winners are understandably delighted upon discovering they're in the money, Andy says that any existing personality or relationship problems tend to get even worse.
He said these will not be solved by a lotto win, and could well become even worse.
While relationships can break down following a big win, Andy says these couples would have also likely split up if the win never happened.
He told : "It's part of life - the lottery just exaggerates it."
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Andy and his team of advisers are banned from entering the draw themselves.
He introduces winners to financial experts who help them plan for the future, and discuss what they can do with their newfound wealth.
While winners can turn down the expert help roughly 90% accept the offer of speaking with a financial planner, Andy says.
And while lotto players may dream about splurging for a luxury sports car or something equally extravagant, reality can quickly dispell these fantasies.
Andy said: "Can you fit a pram in the back of a sports car?
"Some winners hire a sports car for a weekend and then realise it wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be."
And while some may choose to invest in property, spending money on experiences is far more popular than material purchases, according to Andy.
He said: "They want that fantastic holiday to spend time with someone, more than the holiday itself."
He added that the British public are in general "pretty conservative" with spending, and people being "ridiculous" with their money is very rare.
He said roughly 98% of winners were "very cautious" with their new money.
But while many lotto winners enjoy the fruits of their good fortune for years to come, others become examples of how a large cash injection is not the solution for all of life's problems.
Lee Ryan, dubbed the "Lotto Lag", was Britain's first lottery winner to end up behind bars.
The ex-jailbird scooped a £12.7million windfall but his luck turned around after a series of unfortunate events.
After two divorces and bad business decisions Lee was left with no money from the win.
The cash, his £1million mansion, £235,000 helicopter and £125,000
plane, the fleet of flash cars and superbikes are now all gone.
Elsewhere, what should have been an exciting and positive time for Lara Griffiths, from Leeds, turned into the "darkest time" of her life.
After bagging the jackpot with her partner Roger, the lovebirds "fell out of love" and Lara became a victim of online trolls.
Before the couple's downfall, they splashed the cash on expensive cars and homes to fund an extravagant lifestyle, reports claim.
But their lavish lives came to an end when the lucky couple went through financial crash.
She told The Sun: "The cars were always second-hand. We had a mortgage on the house.
"We were incapable of making financial choices on our own. Something that would help invest and manage the money positively. We didn’t know how to do that."
LOTTO WINNER NEAR-MISSES
Lotto winners up and down the country have shared tales of when they almost lost their winnings before even being able to spend it because of little-known rules or family members thinking it's a scam.
MUM IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT
Joanne Jobson from Hartlepool, County Durham, snagged the top prize on Set For Life and now banks £10,000 every month - and will do for the next three decades.
But the hardworking carer revealed how she almost missed out on the prize money after her mum believed it was a scam.
After Joanne checked her account and discovered she had won an jaw-dropping amount of money, she rushed to tell her mum, who she lives with.
She said: "I jumped out of bed and went to tell my mum.
"I remember just saying to mum ‘I think I might have won a lot of money’ and showing her my phone.
"Mum was convinced it was a scam, so I googled the winning Set For Life numbers for the same date to see if they matched - which of course they did."
It was only when Joanne got through to staff at the National Lottery that she was able to confirm that her life had changed forever.
A MOVING OUT GIFT
Lucky punter Alan Jones, 56, had almost axed his ticket for his sold Tyne and Wear property.
Instead, on the last day in his home, Jones' Westerhope postcode struck gold with him and five other neighbours who all netted £166,666 each.
Jones said: "I was going to cancel my ticket and renew it wherever I end up. Thank goodness I didn’t.
"I’ve got to be out by 2pm tomorrow and I’m basically packing up the house now because I need a new start. This has helped give me that."
CHECK YOUR LOTTO BALANCE
Euromillions winner Ian Anderson scooped a £1million jackpot prize, but nearly missed out on the life-changing win.
Ian Anderson, 77, and wife Marlyn, 70, bagged the massive sum after copping the fateful £2.50 Lucky Dip ticket.
The elderly couple only had £4.90 left in their account before they opted to take a chance on the jackpot.
Marlyn, who now cares for her terminally ill husband after he was sadly diagnosed with pleural plaques and pulmonary fibrosis, always plays the Lottery but had no idea that one day she would win big.
She recalled: “I just thought there is no point £4.90 just sitting in my account, I will buy a lucky dip ticket for the next draw.
"It was the day after the draw that I saw an email saying there was good news about my ticket."
LISTEN TO YOUR GUT
Tamsin Burling, 33, admitted to learning a big lesson after scooping £83,000 on the lottery
The mum, who won her share of £1million alongside her Kent neighbors, said her fiancé Craig Billington once tried to convince her not to buy a ticket.
But she ignored him and now they've scooped tens of thousands of pounds.
Craig, 32, looked on sheepishly as Tamsin, who at the time was seven months pregnant with their third child, celebrated the five-figure win.
The pair had a messy divorce after 14 years of marriage after Lara claimed Roger had an affair with his pal, but he denied it.
And when the split was publicised, the mum-of-two then started getting trolled by users who believed she had blown the winnings on plastic surgery and designer handbags.
After losing almost all her fortune and marriage Lara went on to work as a tattoo artist.
Margaret Loughrey, 56, scooped the staggering £27m jackpot and gave loved ones £1m each.
Ms Loughrey bought the ticket on a whim after applying for a charity job - matching five numbers and two lucky stars to bag a whopping £26,863,588.
Despite not being able to drive she bought a £70,000 Jaguar XJ50, a classic motorbike, a VW Campervan, a VW Beetle and a vintage Land Rover jeep.
‘King of Chavs’ wins at just 19 years old
Part-time binman Michael Carroll was wearing an electronic tag when he bought his winning ticket.
The self-styled ‘King of Chavs’ was 19 when he scooped £9,736,131 on the National Lottery in November 2002.
He splashed out on a £340,000 on a six-bedroom home in Norfolk.
Not content with the swish property, he lavished £400,000 on a series of upgrades including a swimming pool and a car track in the garden.
Michael also spent around £1million on shares in his beloved Rangers FC and £49,000 on a BMW.
Carroll's wife, Sandra, left him just a month after their wedding in 2003 after being appalled by his incessant partying, accusing him of cheating on her with sex workers.
She took £1.4million in a settlement – but once she was gone, Michael really dialled up the hedonism with what he called "Roman-style orgies" at his mansion while spending £2,000 on cocaine in a single day.
“I only started to think about three things – drugs, sex and gold,” he said. “The dealer who introduced me to crack has more of my lotto money than I do."
He also racked up an Asbo for terrorising his neighbours and spent time in jail for affray and failing to comply with a drug treatment order.
By February 2010 Michael was declared bankrupt and was claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance.
He lost his entire fortune and was found working for £10 an hour chopping wood and delivering coal in 2019.
But just four months after her win Margaret was sectioned after being told she was “a danger to herself and others".
She left hospital but her plight sadly continued as her life became blighted by mental health problems.
Tragically, Margaret had just finished her dream home when she was found dead in her bungalow.
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The lucky winner never got the chance to live in it.