A MUM was sure she had won £100,000 on the People’s Postcode Lottery but her hubby said “don’t get your hopes up”.
Kayleigh Burnett, 37, was left reeling after landing £145,454 as her postcode took home the biggest share of a £3.2million prize.
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The school worker, of Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, said: “I thought I’d maybe win enough to get my windows done but never in a million years did I ever think I’d win this much.
“This is life-changing for us. It’ll make life a bit more comfortable.”
Kayleigh was at home when Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt knocked on her door with the surprise of a lifetime.
But her husband Guy Burnett, 39, was manning his fish stall, at a market near London, and found out how much she’d pocketed over a video call.
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When mum-of-two Kayleigh revealed the winning cheque to Guy on Facetime, he exclaimed: “Jesus! I can’t believe that.”
Guy had been hesitant to believe that she’d won big after Kayleigh received a call from the Postcode Lottery earlier that week.
She said: “My husband was sceptical and said I shouldn’t get my hopes up. Now he isn’t!
“He’ll need to be careful driving home after seeing that.”
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Kayleigh, who works at a local primary school, said a seemingly ordinary week turned “strange” when she got a call from Postcode Lottery and ran into the headteacher’s office.
Kayleigh excitedly told her boss: “The Postcode Lottery are on the phone, and have said I’ve won something, can I have the day-off so they can come to my door.”
Following her massive cash windfall, she said: “It’s been a strange week to say the least. My head is still spinning.”
Now the duo are planning a sun-soaked getaway with their two children – Elias, 4, and Isaac, 8.
She said: “We can get the work done on the house that we need to do and take the boys on an amazing holiday.”
To add to the excitement in the Burnett household, their two sons will soon be welcoming home a puppy.
Kayleigh said: “We’re getting a French Bulldog puppy – named Nala – in a few weeks, so that’s the pup paid for.”
The stunning win means more play toys for their new four-legged friend and Manchester United daft Issac has asked his mum for new football boots.
Kayleigh had even more to celebrate when she discovered her dad Duncan Young managed to hook a tiddler after he won £2,612 in the same prize.
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Victims of the lottery ‘curse’
MANY of us dream of winning big on the lottery but what about if you actually do? Surely it’s all flash cars and glam photoshoots, and maybe the odd film premiere? That wasn’t the case for this bunch, who – despite scooping millions of pounds – found themselves down in the dumps.
Cocaine King
The self-styled King Of Chavs Michael Carroll was wearing an electronic ankle tag when he scooped £9.7million on the National Lottery in 2002.
He was aged 19 at the time and splurged his fortune on a six-bedroom mansion in Norfolk, which he kitted out with a swimming pool and car racing track.
Michael’s drug addiction saw him spending £2k a day on cocaine and eventually left him penniless.
He previously said: “The dealer who introduced me to crack has more of my lotto money than I do.”
Michael’s wife Sandra left him just a month after their wedding in 2003 after being appalled by his incessant partying.
She also accused him of cheating on her with sex workers, walking away with £1.4million in a settlement.
He suffered a stint in jail for failing to comply with a drug treatment order and by February 2010 was declared bankrupt and claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance.
Michael was reportedly found working for £10 an hour chopping wood and delivering coal in 2019 after he lost his entire fortune.
Surgery Queen
Jane Park was the youngest ever Brit to win the EuroMillions when she scooped the £1million jackpot aged 17 in 2013.
At the time of her win, she was an admin temp earning £8-an-hour, and was living in a two-bedroom Edinburgh council flat she shared with her mum Linda.
But things took a turn for the worse when she felt “empty” after her win and splurged £4.5k on a boob job 34B to 36FF and another few thousand on a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) in Turkey.
Jane was left fearing for her life after having a severe reaction to the anaesthetic and contracting sepsis back in 2017.
Two years later, she launched her OnlyFans to flog topless pictures of herself, followed by more plastic surgery to get her “dream body” with liposuction and a corrective BBL.
Now 28 and wiser, she believes winning the lottery cursed her life and she wishes it never happened.
Hilariously, she refers to herself as the ‘B&M Molly-Mae’.
Love and Loss
Gillian Bayford’s eight-year marriage was destroyed when she and ex-husband Adrian scooped £148 million on the EuroMillions in 2012.
Their lives changed overnight and put so much strain on their relationship, it totally broke down 15 months after their win.
Both Gillian, 50, and Adrian blamed the stress from their mind-boggling win as the root cause of their divorce.
In the decade following their divorce, Gillian became a mum at 48 years old with another man, purchased a £1.2million mansion and started a property business.
“As far as [my daughter] is concerned I’m not a lottery winner, I’m just mum,” Gillian told The Sun.
“Some things are easier because of the money but it doesn’t really change anything.
“You still have to change a nappy or deal with her being sick on you regardless of how much you’re worth.”
