We won the £58m EuroMillions jackpot but it cost us a lot: four words we wish we knew
A COUPLE have revealed the four words they wish they knew before winning a £58million EuroMillions jackpot.
Fred and Lesley Higgins scored the huge win in 2018 and despite spending £8million on an estate, they have been cautious ever since.
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The Dundee pair scooped up the crazy windfall during a lucky dip, but almost missed it when they realized the ticket had been torn up and thrown in the bin.
After weeks of trying to get it validated, they finally became millionaires.
And while it may seem like a stress-free lifestyle change, Fred and Lesley said you should “be suspicious of people.”
Their words of advice come after Richard and Debbie Nuttall, both 54, took home the jackpot last month.
In an effort to help the new winners get their millions, Fred said, “Sometimes you have to be suspicious of people and wary of their motives. For example, are people just nice to you so that you give them some money?
“While I cannot advise these new winners on what to do, I can speak from my experience.
'We have bought a number of properties and made some investments.
“I would say take your time, don't go crazy, just enjoy it. Go on the vacation you want, buy the car, but be careful and be wary of people.”
Richard and Debbie were enjoying their 30th wedding anniversary in Fuerteventura when they realized they had hit the jackpot.
Richard initially thought they had won £2.60, but then received another email asking the pair to check their account.
“I thought it was strange and there was a glitch in the system to receive a duplicate email, but I logged back into my National Lottery account to check,” he explained.
“We were completely stunned, it said we had won more than £61 million.”
Richard continued: 'We just couldn't make sense of it.
“My first thought was that it had to be a scam or something was wrong.”
He said poor phone signal meant the couple could not confirm the news with the National Lottery and he turned to his family for help.
“My youngest came back soon and we asked her to log into our National Lottery account from the UK and check again,” said Richard.
“She entered my details and kept repeating, 'Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!!' It must be real, this was the official National Lottery website that we were all looking at.”
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When Richard and Debbie finally got to the National Lottery, the worker told them: “So I have to get this right… I can confirm that you are the winners of the £61,708,321 EuroMillions jackpot prize.”
Richard said: “By this time Debs and I are going crazy, jumping up and down in our car seats, punching the air, banging on the dashboard, the car must have been rocking.”
The winning numbers in the January 30 draw were 05, 10, 19, 27, 30 and the two Lucky Stars were 05 and 06.
The money splashes
The happy couple are now planning to buy a new family home and take a luxury holiday in Portugal.
Richard has already driven home a brand new BMW X5.
And Debbie has resigned from her job in civil engineering, where she works as a bid and estimate support assistant.
Meanwhile, Richard, who runs his own accountancy firm, has now informed the company that he will no longer be working after the end of this tax year.
Now that he has more free time, Richard plans to hit the golf course more often – and he even wants a 'Golf Swing Room' at their new course.
Debbie, on the other hand, can now enjoy her dream garden and the extra space for a greenhouse.
The couple revealed they were planning to downsize just over a month ago.
“Now we're expanding significantly, with plenty of land for Debbie and the dog to enjoy,” said Richard.
“Our lives will be so different. We have worked hard all our lives and we are now really looking forward to making life a little easier.”
Richard had been playing EuroMillions for eight years and bought one Lucky Dip line every Tuesday and Friday.
The couple has now taken 29th place on the National Lottery Rich List.
And they are the 39th British winner to land a prize of £50 million or more on EuroMillions.