For many of us, winning the Lottery is something we could only ever dream of.
Winning a substantial amount of money in a lottery can lead to extravagant dreams coming true. For example, winners might consider constructing a personal golf course, purchasing a private steam train, or enjoying the comfort of a lavish mansion. The possibilities become endless when one has access to such a substantial amount of cash.
But for some unlucky couples, their new found fortune can instead spell the start of a living nightmare.
From divorce and family splits to diseases and tragic deaths, some of the Lottery’s biggest winners have had their lives changed for the worse.
So, as the latest EuroMillions jackpot of £177m – the highest sum ever won in a National Lottery draw – has just been claimed, it begs the question whether the newest winner will meet the same fate.
Here MailOnline has a look back at some of the ‘cursed’ winners and how their lives were thrown into chaos following their historic wins.
Adrian Bayford won a whopping £148million with his wife, Gillian (left), which they used to buy a luxury £6.5million mansion in Linton, Cambridgeshire
Colin Weir had only spent half of his £80 million share of the winnings he split with wife Chris, before dying in 2019
Joe Thwaite, 49, and Jess Thwaite, 46, from Gloucestershire celebrate after winning the record-breaking EuroMillions jackpot of £184m
Mansions and mega-yachts: What you can buy with the £177million EuroMillions jackpot
Elon Musk’s £48m Gulf Stream private jet
In 2016, the Tesla CEO purchased a 99-foot long Gulfstream G650ER, equipped with multiple big-screen televisions, fresh air circulation and 195 square feet for luggage storage.
The jet also features a spacious laboratory and four large living room spaces featuring cream-colored leather seats and wood furniture.
One of the living spaces includes a VIP cabin with a sliding door perfect for holding private meetings. It has a sofa as well as a flat screen television.
£70m SkyStyle superyacht
The stunning 233ft, £70million ‘Unique 71’ vessel is designed for ‘comfort at high-speed cruising, penetrating into the air and water masses like a blade’.
On board are four decks that contain a helipad and an open-air swimming pool, as well as a sky lounge and a water-level dining stern.
The price tag would leave the couple with more than £100m still in the bank, while they could sleep up to 12 people with the six guest cabins.
The huge mansion dubbed ‘the other Windsor Castle’
Boasting a 1,000-bottle wine cellar and a master suite with an impressive 16 wardrobes, Harford Manor is valued at around £30million.
The mansion has nine bedrooms, a double-height galleried entrance hall, five fireplaces, a grand piano, library, indoor pool and sauna, an office overlooking the third-of-a-mile driveway, boot room, chef’s kitchen and gym within its 23,000 sq ft of living space.
The whopping prize reclaimed earlier this week is the highest sum ever won in a National Lottery.
The claim will now go through a validation process and if confirmed and the prize will be paid at an appointment with one of the National lottery’s winners’ advisers.
The winning numbers were 7, 11, 25, 31, 40 and lucky stars 9 and 12.
The lucky winner will also decide whether or not to go public with the news with the world.
The win makes the lucky person wealthier than former One Direction singer Harry Styles and heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua, who are both worth £175 million, according to the latest Sunday Times Rich List.
They will also be richer than pop superstar Adele, who has a net worth of £170 million, according to the annual list.
But they are still yet to be as rich as Rory McIlroy (£225m), Ed Sheeran (£340m), Lewis Hamilton (£350m)
While these stars have become attuned to handling their wealth and fame with a rational sensibility, for those not familiar with the limelight it can have a catastrophic effect.
Adrian Bayford won a whopping £148million with his wife, Gillian, which they used to buy a luxury £6.5million mansion in Linton, Cambridgeshire.
But they split only 15 months later, blaming the stress of handling their newfound wealth for the end of their nine-year marriage.
It came after Mrs Bayford was forced to deny she had an affair with the couple’s gardener, Chris Tovey.
After they divorced, Gillian moved back to Scotland and married convicted fraudster Brian Deans in 2018 and had a child with him during the 2020 Covid lockdown.
However, she threw out the father-of-one in March after he squandered millions of her fortune on cars, holidays, watches and five-star football trips – as friends say he saw her as nothing more than ‘a cash machine’.
Another former boyfriend, Gavin Innes, also accused her of beating him while they were together. She was convicted of a breach of the peace and was admonished – meaning she was able to go free with a warning from the judge.
Meanwhile, Adrian went on to have relationships with three other women – Marta Jarosz, Sam Burbidge and Lisa Kemp – but similarly to his ex-wife they all ended in heartbreak.
Polish-born Marta became the next woman in Adrian’s life after Gillian when the pair were spotted together in 2014.
Gillian shared the huge Euromillions winnings with her then-husband Adrian, with whom she shares two children
Polish-born Marta Jarosz (pictured) became the next woman in Adrian’s life after Gillian when the pair were spotted together in 2014
Ms Jarosz met Adrian on December 20, 2013, while working as a bouncer at the Rose and Crown pub in Haverhill when he approached her and asked: ‘Do you know who I am?’
Adrian then offered her a £1,200-a-month job as his bodyguard, driver and personal assistant. The pair swapped numbers, and he texted her later that night.
However, on the same evening, Ms Jarosz went for a drink after her shift with welder Alex Martin, whom she later fell in love with, and the pair have been together since.
After Adrian and Ms Jarosz parted ways, she was was given a £34,000 top-of-the-range V40.
Adrian met his second love interest Sam Burbidge in a pub in February 2014 and whisked her off to a £500-a-night resort in the Maldives, where he proposed.
It was a relationship built on unsteady ground, as on that same holiday, Marta claims Adrian also asked her to be his wife over text and said he would rather be on holiday with her instead.
In 2017, the 29-year-old walked out on the then 46-year-old millionaire, reportedly leaving with ex-partner Alan Suckling.
The ‘horse-mad’ former stable girl then sold 12 of the 30 horses he had bought for her, which was said to be ‘ultimate slap in the face’ for Adrian, who spent millions indulging his fiancee’s love of riding.
Adrian met his second love interest Sam Burbidge (pictured) in a pub in February 2014 and whisked her off to a £500-a-night resort in the Maldives, where he proposed
The ‘horse-mad’ former stable girl (pictured) was gifted 30 horses from Adrian
Adrian then found love in Frankie & Benny’s waitress Lisa Kemp in December 2017.
The pair were thought to be living together at his £12million estate in Haverhill, Suffolk, where staff have codenamed them ‘the honeymooners’, after he had bought her pet chickens.
However, six months later, the Sun revealed the Lotto winner has been dumped for a third time in four years. The 40-year-old stormed out after she discovered messages sent to Marta, whilst on holiday in South Wales.
Adrian’s latest lover has also been embroiled in romantic drama since getting together with the jackpot winner.
Last year, the MailOnline reported how Mark Newman, 57, said he was left devastated when Tracey walked out on him to start a new life with the former postman.
He claimed that Tracey, 45, had initially told him that she was only in a professional relationship with the millionaire and living in a separate part on his 189 acre estate.
Mark who is 6ft 2ins tall and heavily built, looks astonishingly like the 52-year-old. But he said it was clear from early in their relationship that she wanted to be with divorced father-of-two Adrian.
Adrian now plans to tie the knot in a no-expense-spared bash at favourite Indian ocean resort — where he also took his three exes.
Adrian was spotted enjoying some Christmas shopping with his lover Lisa Kemp in 2017
Bus driver Mark Newman with former girlfriend Tracey Biles who has become ‘estate manager’ for lottery winner Adrian Bayford
Adrian proposed to his ambulance worker fiancée Tracey Biles (pictured) at Christmas in 2023
In 2011, Colin and Chris Weir, from Ayrshire, cashed in a whopping £161million. The prize was divided between the two, with each getting £80million.
After initially buying a more modest property, they went on to purchase Frognal mansion, bought from hotel tycoon Bill Costley for £3.5million.
The couple were also known for their philanthropic work and set up The Weir Charitable Trust in 2013.
They also became regular donars to the SNP and donated £1million to the Scottish independence campaign.
Along with their children, Carly and Jamie, the Weirs became well known in the Ayrshire community for funding local projects.
Sadly the pair divorced in 2019, after living in separate mansions for a year.
The couple ‘drifted apart’ when Mr Weir went to Partick Thistle games while his wife attended charity events.
In December that year, Colin died suddenly aged 72 after suffering from kidney failure and sepsis.
The couple later divorced after ‘drifting apart’ when Mr Weir, 71, went to Partick Thistle games while his wife, 62, attended charity events
Mr Weir signed their £3million mansion (pictured) in Troon over to his wife during their divorce
Joe and Jess Thwaite, also won the record-breaking £184,262,899 jackpot with a Lucky Dip ticket on May 10, 2022.
In 2022, it was revealed they were planning a round-the-world trip to celebrate their big win, before buying a second-hand Volvo for £38,000.
Joe previously admitted that he was ‘not a great car person’ and said his dream car was a Skoda Superb estate ‘because of the amount of stuff you can get in the boot’.
The lucky pair said they wanted to go public as they did not want to put the ‘burden’ of keeping the secret on others.
Joe is a communications sales engineer, while Jess manages the business side of a hairdressing salon she runs with her mother Caroline and sister Rebecca in the affluent riverside town of Tewkesbury.
They have twin daughters together, while Mr Thwaite has two grown up children currently at university from a previous marriage.
At the time of their big win, the couple were said to be eyeing up a £7.25million Cotswolds mansion near Jeremy Clarkson’s Cotswold farm as well as an overseas trip to places including Hawaii and Texas.
They said the globe-trotting holiday would be worth ‘every penny’ to see the smiles on their children’s faces.
Joe Thwaite, 49 and Jess Thwaite, 44, from Gloucester bought their EuroMillions Lucky Dip ticket on the National Lottery App and the next morning received an email saying they had good news
Matt Topham and Cassey Carrington, of Lincolnshire, were both just 22 when they struck lucky on the EuroMillions in 2012. Sadly, the couple have now split
Other Lotto winners include Matt Topham and Cassey Carrington who were both just 22 when they struck lucky on the EuroMillions in 2012.
Mr Topham, a decorator, and Ms Carrington, an Iceland store supervisor, got married that year and had three children together.
But earlier this year it was revealed the pair had reportedly broken up.
Mr Topham, a racing enthusiast, was later pictured in his maserati on dates with his new girlfriend Amy Cox.
The reason for Mr Topham and his wife’s split is unknown, although the couple have gone through some turbulent times.
In 2021, Mr Tophan was handed a 16-week suspended jail term after admitting careless driving over the death of 75-year-old Mary Regler in North Cockerington, Lincolnshire.
Last year, a zoo bought by the couple in Louth, Lincolnshire, named Rushmoor Country Park, ‘shut down’ mid alleged financial strain.
The lottery-winning couple were last pictured together in July 2021 — four months before Mr Topham was sentenced at Lincoln crown court.
Who is the biggest ever UK lottery winner? Two couples and a former car mechanic top list
Here are the ten previous UK winners of the EuroMillions draw so far
1. In July 2011, Colin and Chris Weir became Europe’s biggest lottery winners when they scooped more than £161million.
The couple, who have been married for 30 years, said they were ‘not scared’ of the wealth because they were going to have ‘so much fun’ with the money.
The pair, a retired TV cameraman and a retired psychiatric nurse, from Largs, in Ayrshire, said their children Carly, a photography student, and Jamie, a call centre worker, would be bought their own homes and cars.
The family made a £1million donation to the SNP shortly after winning.
Colin and Chris Weir became Europe’s biggest lottery winners when they scooped more than £161million in 2011
2. Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Suffolk, took home more than £148 million in August 2012.
The marriage ended just 15 months into their new jackpot winning lives, citing the stress of the money as the reason they needed to split.
At the time, a spokesman for Mrs Bayford said: ‘Gillian Bayford confirms that her marriage to Adrian has broken down irretrievably and they have separated.’
It came after Mrs Bayford was forced to deny she had an affair with the couple’s gardener, Chris Tovey.
Adrian and Gillian Bayford, from Suffolk, took home more than £148 million in August 2012
3. An anonymous ticket-holder took home £123m in July
4. Patrick and Frances Connolly from County Armagh scooped the entire £115million EuroMillions jackpot on New Year’s Day 2019
5. An unnamed ticket-holder claimed just over £113million in October 2010, and chose not go public.
6. Neil Trotter, from south London, won nearly £108million, going from former car mechanic to multimillionaire in March 2014.
Neighbours in Croydon described he and partner Nicky Ottaway moved out ‘almost overnight’ after they scooped the EuroMillions jackpot last March.
Mr Trotter admitted at the time that he was like his namesake, Del Boy Trotter from Only Fools And Horses.
Neil Trotter, with partner Nicky Ottaway, won nearly £108million, going from former car mechanic to multimillionaire in March 2014
7. Steve Thomson and his wife Lenka, from West Sussex, became the UK’s biggest EuroMillions winners when they claimed a prize worth £105million in November 2019.
8. A couple from Cambridgeshire, Dave and Angela Dawes, won more than £101million on their third go on the EuroMillions draw in October 2011.
Mr Dawes said he ‘didn’t sleep a wink’ the night of the win, as it was too late to call Camelot after the couple checked their numbers.
Last year, the couple were taken to court by his son, an Afghanistan veteran, Michael Dawes, 32, who said he was ‘ungenerous in spirit’.
But a judge ruled the millionaire father does not need to keep bailing out his son, who burnt through £1.6million in two years, and came back for more, failing to heed his stepmother’s advice to stop eating at the Ritz and go to McDonald’s instead.
Dave and Angela Dawes won more than £101million on their third go on the EuroMillions draw in October 2011
9. A UK winner got a £93 million payout in June 2015, but decided to remain anonymous.
10. The Davies from Wales family won £61million on the EuroMillions in 2016
Stephanie Davies, 23 is said to have ‘reluctantly’ purchased the ticket at the time after her mother Sonia called her from Florida begging her to go out and buy one.
Keith Reynolds, Sonia Davies, Stephanie, Courtney Davies and Steve Powell all scooped money on the jackpot and said they were the ‘luckiest people’ on the planet to have won.
