I was sure I’d won a £100,000 Lotto prize but was told: ‘Don’t win too much’
A mother was sure she had won £100,000 in the People’s Postcode Lottery, but her husband said: “Don’t get your hopes up too much”.
Kayleigh Burnett, 37, was left reeling after scooping £145,454 as her postcode took home the biggest share of a £3.2million prize.
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The school worker, from Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, said: ‘I thought I might win enough to get my windows done, but never in a million years did I ever think I would win that much.
“This is life-changing for us. It will make life a little more comfortable.”
Kayleigh was at home when Postcode Lottery ambassador Judie McCourt knocked on her door with the surprise of her life.
But her husband Guy Burnett, 39, was manning his fish stall at a market near London and discovered how much she had pocketed via a video call.
When mother-of-two Kayleigh revealed the winning check to Guy on Facetime, he exclaimed: “Jesus! I can’t believe that.”
Guy was hesitant to believe she had won big after Kayleigh received a call from the Postcode Lottery earlier that week.
She said: “My husband was skeptical and told me not to get my hopes up. Now he isn’t anymore!
“He’ll have to be careful driving home after seeing that.”
Kayleigh, who works at a local primary school, said a seemingly normal week became ‘strange’ when she received a call from the Postcode Lottery and came across the principal’s office.
Kayleigh said excitedly to her boss: “The Postcode Lottery is on the phone and has said I have won something, can I have the day off so they can come to my door.”
After her huge financial 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-filled getaway with their two children – Elias, 4, and Isaac, 8.
She said: “We can do the house work we need to do and take the boys on a great holiday.”
To add to the excitement in the Burnett household, their two sons will soon welcome a puppy.
Kayleigh said: “We’re getting a French Bulldog puppy – called Nala – in a few weeks, so that’s what the puppy is paid for.”
The stunning win means more toys for their new pooch and Manchester United madman 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 winning £2,612 from the same prize.
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Victims of the lottery ‘curse’
A LOT of us dream of winning big in the lottery, but what about when you actually do it? Isn’t it all flashy cars and glamorous photo shoots, and maybe the odd movie premiere? That wasn’t the case for this group, who – despite raking in millions of pounds – ended up in the hole.
Cocaine king
Self-styled King Of Chavs Michael Carroll wore an electronic anklet when he won £9.7million on the National Lottery in 2002.
He was 19 years old at the time and squandered his fortune on a six-bedroom country house in Norfolk, which he equipped with a swimming pool and a motor racing track.
His drug addiction caused Michael to spend £2,000 a day on cocaine, which ultimately left him destitute.
He previously said: “The dealer who introduced me to crack has more of my lottery money than I do.”
Michael’s wife Sandra left him just a month after their wedding in 2003 after being shocked by his incessant partying.
She also accused him of cheating on her with sex workers and making off with £1.4 million in a settlement.
He spent time in prison for failing to comply with a drug treatment order and was declared bankrupt in February 2010 and claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Michael was reportedly found working for £10 an hour chopping wood and delivering coal in 2019 after losing his entire fortune.
Surgery Queen
Jane Park became the youngest Briton ever to win the EuroMillions when she won the £1 million jackpot in 2013 at the age of 17.
At the time she won, she was a temporary worker earning £8 an hour, living in a two-bedroom flat in Edinburgh council that she shared with her mother Linda.
But things got worse when she felt ’empty’ after her win and spent £4.5k on a boob job from 34B to 36FF and another couple of thousand on a Brazilian Butt Lift (BBL) in Turkey.
Jane feared for her life after suffering a severe reaction to anesthesia and contracting sepsis in 2017.
Two years later, she launched her OnlyFans to flash topless photos 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 wishes it never happened.
She hilariously calls herself the ‘B&M Molly-Mae’.
Love and loss
Gillian Bayford’s eight-year marriage was destroyed when she and ex-husband Adrian raised £148million at the EuroMillions in 2012.
Their lives changed overnight, putting so much strain on their relationship that it broke down completely 15 months after their victory.
Both Gillian, 50, and Adrian blamed the stress of their stunning victory for their split.
In the decade following their divorce, Gillian became a mother to another man at the age of 48, bought a £1.2 million mansion and started a property business.
“As far as [my daughter] worries I’m not a lottery winner, I’m just a mother,” 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 diaper or deal with her being sick of you, no matter how much you’re worth.”