A MARRIED couple have won Britain’s biggest ever EuroMillions lottery jackpot of £184 million with a Lucky Dip.
Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester, scooped the jaw-dropping £184,262,899 with a Lucky Dip ticket on the EuroMillions draw on Tuesday May 10.
Joe, 49, a communications sales engineer, and Jess, 44, who runs a hairdressing salon with her sister, have been married for 11 years and have two primary-school age children.
Mrs Thwaite 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.”
Mr Thwaite said “he didn’t know what to do” when he saw how much they had won.
“I couldn’t go back to sleep, I didn’t want to wake Jess up so I just laid there for what seemed like forever,” he added.
The record was previously held by an anonymous ticket-holder who banked £170 million in October 2019.
The new Lottery record-breakers mark the second EuroMillions jackpot won in the UK this year.
A stonking £109 million jackpot from the draw on February 4 was claimed a few days later.
Read our Lottery live below for the latest news and updates…
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How to play Set For Life?
- The first step is to pick five numbers between 1 and 47 and one Life Ball between 1 and 10.
- You can pick the same number twice: once as a main number and once as the Life Ball.
- Chose your draw days and the number of weeks you’d like to play
- You can play up to seven lines of numbers, and play 10 slips at a time
You can buy Set For Life tickets online every day from 6am until 11pm.
But remember, to play on a draw day, you’ll need to buy your ticket before 7.30pm.
- The first step is to pick five numbers between 1 and 47 and one Life Ball between 1 and 10.
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Set For Life on tonight
Tonight, you’ll be able to play the Set For Life.
In this draw, you could win £10,000 a month for the next 30 years.
The draw takes place at 8:00pm and the numbers will be revealed on our blog shortly after.
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Explained: National Lottery weekly timetable
Here’s a timetable for all UK lottery games including Lotto, EuroMillions and Set For Life.
There is a draw 6 nights a week.
However, there are no draws on Sundays.
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Star sign most likely to pick winning numbers
The moment we’ve all been waiting for. Which sign is most likely to win the lottery? Well, it’s good news if you’re born in February or March.
According to research from Lott and MailOnline, dreamy Pisces is the luckiest sign of the zodiac when it comes to winning the lottery.
The data, which was based on those winning the top lottery jackpot, found that 11.6% of the winners were Pisces – meaning, on average, they were more likely to pick the golden ticket.
Go-with the-flow Pisces will stumble upon extraordinarily lucky breaks and often find themselves effortlessly attracting most things on their wish list.
So, Pisces, if you’re reading this maybe you should get down to the shops and buy a lottery ticket.
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Afternoon, Milica Cosic taking over this blog now. I’ll be with you until 10pm tonight.
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Expert suggests ways to handle massive win
The dilemma of what to do with a huge lottery win is the stuff of dreams for most people.
But those lucky enough to have a huge windfall should plan for the future as well as readjusting to day-to-day life on their new, turbo-charged income, according to finance experts.
Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester, were revealed on Thursday as the winners of Britain’s biggest EuroMillions lottery jackpot of £184 million.
The couple, who are aged in their 40s and have two children, scooped a record-breaking £184,262,899.
Alistair McQueen, head of savings and retirement at Aviva, said: “Average household wealth in the UK is just over £300,000, including property, savings, pensions and everything else which is owned.
“Fewer than 1% of all households hold more than £3 million of wealth and so winning millions would lift most people into a very select segment of the population.”
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Who are the biggest EuroMillions lottery winners in the UK?
EuroMillions ticket holders have been transfixed on their TV screens, waiting for the lottery numbers to roll in every Tuesday and Friday.
None more so than in May 2022 when a record £184m jackpot was up for grabs for one lucky winner.
Here’s what happened to some of the UK’s biggest EuroMillions winners.
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Thwaites say they are ‘not materialistic’ when asked about spending cash
Asked if there is one thing they have always dreamed of buying, Jess Thwaite said: “We’re not really those materialistic people. If you saw our house you would know.
“I’ll probably buy a new car I’m sure, or something like that, but we haven’t got a huge…we’d love to go on a holiday family.”
She added: “We had to go buy suitcases to come here because we don’t go on holiday. We never go on holiday. So our kids would just die to go to the sun and do that kind of thing so I’d love to go and do that.”
Mr Thwaite said the main thing their children have talked about is holidays.
He said: “Our youngest constantly has always wanted to go to Hawaii. I think YouTube’s to blame for that.” His wife added: “We have no idea why but they’re obsessed with Hawaii.”
Mr Thwaite said their other child wants to go to a Texas ranch.
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My luck is generally terrible’ says EuroMillions prize winner Joe Thwaite
Joe Thwaite said he was working on Tuesday and by 4pm he thought he “better buy a ticket” because he was aware of the jackpot.
He said he regularly buys tickets, adding: “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.
“But generally my luck is pretty terrible, to be honest with you.”
His wife Jess said: “He tries to convince me to buy them thinking I’ll have more luck, but actually it’s him.”
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Pictured: The messages that told Joe Thwaite he’d won £184m
The comp shows the messages received by lottery winner Joe Thwaite in the National Lottery app notifying him of his historic win.
Joe Thwaite, 49, and Jess Thwaite, 46, from Gloucestershire won a record-breaking EuroMillions jackpot of £184M from the draw on Tuesday 10 May, 2022.
The couple, who have two primary-aged kids, carried on with their day like normal after realising they had won the EuroMillions.
Joe Thwaite, 49, and Jess Thwaite, 46, from Gloucestershire won a record-breaking EuroMillions jackpot of £184MCredit: PA -
‘We’re like any normal family’ says EuroMillions winner Jess Thwaite
Jess Thwaite said even though it is “wonderful and exciting” it is also “a massive relief for everybody that’s been struggling with all their bills and all their things for all this time”.
She said: “We’re like every normal family that have that thing so it’s just a huge relief as well.”
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‘We have got to get our heads around this’ says winning couple
On whether they feel they have a responsibility to people struggling with the cost of living crisis, Jess Thwaite said: “This is also new to us.
She added: “I think those people are in the same boat as us – absolutely, we get where they are.
“But we just got to get our head around this.”
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Jess says late father’s love of the Lottery ‘helped her prepare for years’
Jess revealed that she was more prepared for the win than many, thanks to her father.
She said: “My dad played The National Lottery all his life and constantly dreamed of winning.
He would 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.
Maybe that is why I seem so chilled, as I’ve kind of been ready to win for years.”
When Jess’ father passed away around seven years ago, Joe took on the mantle of playing The National Lottery. Joe said, “The family always ask me if I have a ticket for the big draws.
“While I don’t play every week, I do a Lucky Dip when there is a big jackpot. Although I don’t feel like I’ve had a lot of luck in the past.”
Jess continued, “Plenty of times Joe has said to me that he’s not lucky enough and I should do it.
“I’m so glad he carried on, and while my dad had prepared me, I’m not sure anyone is really prepared for a win like this.”
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Pictured: Joe and Jess Thwaite celebrate record-breaking EuroMillions win
A hard-working couple from Gloucester have become the country’s biggest-ever National Lottery winners.
Joe Thwaite, 49, and Jess Thwaite, 46, from Gloucestershire celebrate after winning the record-breaking EuroMillions jackpot of £184M.
The couple were pictured raising a glass with their cheque on Tuesday at the Ellenborough Park Hotel, in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
Joe Thwaite, 49, and Jess Thwaite, 46, from Gloucestershire celebrate after winning the record-breaking EuroMillions jackpot of £184MCredit: PA -
Jess Thwaite was ‘really worried about going public’
Jess Thwaite said she had been “really worried about going public” but it will help them be “honest” to the people they love.
She said this is “just because I want to protect the people I love”.
“I want to make sure that they’re all OK,” she added.
“But I feel this is the way that we can be honest, the more we can enjoy it with them all, and going to allow us to give them loads to them.”
On whether they’re worried about scammers or people coming forward to ask for money, Mrs Thwaite said: “I haven’t even thought of anything like that. To be honest we’re a week in, we’re so overwhelmed by other stuff.”
Mr Thwaite added that they are trying to “focus on the positives”.
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Thwaites celebrated with low key family meal
Questioned on how they celebrated their win, Jess Thwaite said: “We’ve had a family meal, we went and had a family meal so we could share with our family.
“To tell the truth, we bought bedroom furniture. We bought a chest of drawers and a wardrobe.
“Other than that we haven’t done anything.”
Asked if they would reach out for advice from past lottery winners, Joe Thwaite said: “We want as much advice as we can get.”
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Joe Thwaite says Lucky Dip is ‘always easier’
Joe Thwaite said he always chooses the Lucky Dip as he thinks it is “easier”, while Jess Thwaite added: “My dad played the Lottery when we were growing up and he played the same numbers every single week.
“He died about seven years ago and kind of Joe took on the baton as the one who did the Lottery for our family.
“So he started off using those numbers, but he’d forget them or get them wrong or something, so we then went to Lucky Dip, so that it was luck.
“But yeah it’s unbelievable because that’s what my dad dreamed of all his life, and used to say to us frequently ‘Imagine if you won the Lottery, think about if you won the Lottery’.
“And yeah it’s just crazy.”
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No plans for Joe and Jess to return to work
Asked if they would carry on working after their win, Jess Thwaite said: “I don’t think we are at the moment.
“I’m going to take some time with that and what we’re going to do.”
Her husband Joe Thwaite said he has handed his notice in.
He said: “I’m leaving work.”
Mrs Thwaite added: “I think we’re going to have a full-time job managing all of this for quite some time.”
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Joe Thwaite: ‘We’re just trying to think about all the positives’
Asked if they are worried about scammers or people coming forward who may want to take their money, Jess Thwaite said: “I haven’t even thought of anything like that. To be honest, we’re a week in.
“We’re, like, so overwhelmed by this stuff. I just haven’t even got to consider that if I’m honest.”
Her husband Joe Thwaite added: “We’re trying to think of all the positives. That’s the main thing of this is there’s a lot of positives.”
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‘Normal grumpy husband-and-wife morning’
Jess Thwaite said her husband woke her up, saying it was a “normal husband-and-wife grumpy morning”.
She said she told him: “‘Just let me turn the alarm off’ and he was like: ‘I’ve got a secret to tell you.'”
The 44-year-old said he then told her they had won £184 million and her reaction was: “Don’t be stupid.”
Mrs Thwaite said she then thought: “This is a fun game to play, this is wrong, there’s obviously something wrong with the app, Let’s go with it and let’s enjoy this moment of thinking we’ve won the lottery because it’s not real.”
She said they decided to ring the lottery office at 8am when it opens, adding: “I was like: ‘Right, I’ll go make coffee and get on with the day.'”
When the office told them they “definitely had won”, Mrs Thwaite said: “I didn’t think it was real to be honest. I still don’t think that it’s real.”
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Thwaites assumed they had won just another Lucky Dip prize
Joe Thwaite said that when he received an email telling him he won a prize he thought it was a lucky dip.
“Then I looked at the amount and I put the phone down. And I picked the phone up again, and I looked at the amount again.
“I first thought it was in thousands,” he said, adding that he thought it was “life-changing”.
But then he “started counting the digits”, adding: “Amazing, but also surreal.”
He said they have been trying to move house for quite a while and he went on Right Move.
“You go on Right Move and you set your limits on what you can afford, and in the past everything we’ve kind of wanted is far beyond what we can afford, and 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,” he said.
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Britain’s previous Lottery jackpot winners
The previous highest winners stayed anonymous when they bagged £170million in October 2019.
Colin and Chris Weir were next when they became Europe’s second biggest lottery winners in July 2011.
Adrian and Gillian Bayford won £148million in 2012 but they spit up just 15 months later.
Frances and Patrick Connolly, of County Armagh, won £114.9million on the New Year’s Day EuroMillions jackpot in 2019.
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‘My luck is generally terrible’ says EuroMillions prize winner Joe Thwaite
Joe Thwaite said he was working on Tuesday and by 4pm he thought he “better buy a ticket” because he was aware of the jackpot.
He said he regularly buys tickets, adding: “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.
“But generally my luck is pretty terrible, to be honest with you.”
His wife Jess said: “He tries to convince me to buy them thinking I’ll have more luck, but actually it’s him.”
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Winners of biggest ever UK EuroMIllions prize revealed
A married couple have been revealed as the winners of Britain’s biggest EuroMillions lottery jackpot of £184 million.
Joe and Jess Thwaite, from Gloucester, scooped a record-breaking £184,262,899 with a Lucky Dip ticket on the draw on Tuesday May 10.
Joe, 49, a communications sales engineer, and Jess, 44, who runs a hairdressing salon with her sister, have been married for 11 years and have two primary-school aged children.
Mrs Thwaite 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.”
The record was previously held by an anonymous ticket-holder who banked £170 million in October 2019.
The new record-breakers mark the second EuroMillions jackpot won in the UK this year, with the £109 million jackpot from the draw on February 4 claimed a few days later.
