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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Tim Hanlon

Big spenders, divorce and donation 'addiction' - UK's biggest lottery winners

A Brit has just become the UK's biggest-ever lottery winner but as they ponder how to spend a staggering £184 million here is how other EuroMillions chose to splash the cash.

There have now been 15 players who have won a jackpot of more than £100 million in the history of the National Lottery.

So far several have decided to keep anonymous but others have told how they have spent big, given away large amounts in donation "addiction" and suffered divorce heartache.

And the latest was whoever had EuroMillions numbers 3, 25, 27, 28 and 29 - plus the Lucky Star numbers 4 and 9, in Tuesday's draw.

Looking at the biggest winners list the new highest amount is £184,262,899.10 by a so far unknown player.

The amount dwarfs what Man Utd's Paul Pogba is worth (Getty Images)

The new winner has been catapulted to the top of the National Lottery's rich list and players are being urged to check their tickets as the winner has not been declared!

So what does it mean? Well, they are now worth more than footballers Harry Kane (£33 million) and Paul Pogba (£64 million) combined.

They could afford to buy four Caribbean islands, with a few million to spare, or the equivalent of 11 six-bedroom luxury properties in London's affluent Hyde Park.

Behind them, the now second biggest winner scooped £170,221,000 from the National Lottery in October, 2019, after matching all the numbers in a Must Be Won draw, and they decided to keep their anonymity.

Next come Colin and Chris Weir on the list who won £161,653,000.

Colin and Chris Weir who won £161,653,000 in 2011 (AFP via Getty Images)

Colin and Chris Weir from Largs, North Ayrshire, bagged their historic winnings in July 2011, making them the biggest UK winners at the time.

Colin used £2.5 million of his fortune to invest in his beloved Partick Thistle football club, which led to one of the stands at the stadium to be named after him.

He later acquired 55% shareholding in the club, which was to be passed into the hands of the local community upon his death. He died in December 2019, aged 71.

The couple also set up the Weir Charitable Trust in 2013 and donated £1 million to the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. They divorced in the same year as Colin's death.

Adrian and Gillian Bayford won €190 million or £148,656,000 in a EuroMillions draw in August 2012.

Adrian and Gillian Bayford won £148,656,000 in August 2012 (SWNS.COM)

The couple bought a Grade-II listed estate in Cambridgeshire, complete with cinema and billiards room but it was sold in 2021, some years after the pair divorced, as reported by The Mirror.

The fourth biggest National Lottery winner won a Superdraw rollover jackpot in June, 2019, worth £123,458,008 and they decided not to go public with their success.

Similarly there was an anonymous, £122,550,350 winner who took home the money after nine rollovers in April, 2021.

And again the winner of £121,328,187 who found their fortune through a Superdraw jackpot rollover in April, 2018, decided not to go public.

Frances and Patrick Connolly won £114,969,775 in 2019 (PA)

Frances and Patrick Connolly are next in the list with £114,969,775.

Former social worker and teacher Frances set up two charitable foundations after she and her husband won almost £115 million on New Year's Day 2019.

She estimates that she has already given away £60 million to charitable causes, as well as friends and family.

Frances considers helping others to be an addiction and said: "It gives you a buzz and it's addictive. I'm addicted to it now."

An anonymous winner took home £113,019,926 in October, 2010, and the final winner in the Top 10 claimed £111,540,000 in June last year in the Superdraw and also didn't go public.

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