Inside tragic story of Lottery winning couple who took home £2million before heartbreaking twist ‘ruined their lives’
A LUCKY couple scooped £2million on the lottery just one month after they got married - but it all turned sour after a tragic twist.
Jason, and Victoria Jones, landed their whopping £2.3million win after Victoria bought the ticket using the last £1 left in her purse.
The couple went on to build an impressive property portfolio in Devizes, Wiltshire, as well as owning a holiday home in Weymouth.
But the jackpot winners divorced, after Victoria started a relationship with another businessman one hundred times richer than her husband, reports, .
The win, in 2004, allowed Victoria to quit her job as a credit controller, but she says that the money was not worth it.
Speaking in 2016, she said: "It's probably one of the worst things that's ever happened to me. Without a shadow of a doubt.
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"The stress it gives you in life and even 12 years down the line, I’m still classed as a lottery winner and it’s horrible.
"It ruins your life. People treat you differently – it’s just not a nice thing."
The couple's marriage began to breakdown in December 2015, when Mr Jones says his wife announced she was leaving him.
The pair decided to make another go of things and went to Cape Verde on a 'make or break trip'.
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It was then that Mr Jones discovered his wife was in contact with multimillionaire mattress tycoon Mike Clare, who sold bed retailer Dreams for £222million in 2008.
He said: "We went on holiday to patch things up and that’s when I found out she was texting this bloke Mike.
"I said, 'Things have happened, but I still want to make a go of things', and she said, 'No, I’m not in love with you'."
Mrs Jones insisted that she was just friends with Mr Clare at the time, but allegedly admitted she was seeing someone else when they returned home.
Mr Jones, who carried on working at a scrapyard after their win, told how his wife's relationship with the tycoon had destroyed his life.
He said at the time: "I haven’t worked for about eight months because [our break-up] has affected me in a big way.
"You’re happy families and then I’ve had to sell the house I live in, the house in Weymouth we used to go to every weekend, and we’ve got all these properties in Devizes and we’ve got to split them all up.
Mr Clare, whose £260million fortune makes him one of the wealthiest men in the UK, admitted in 2016 that he was 'seeing' Mrs Jones.
Mr Jones was still married, but separated from his wife Carol when news of the relationship broke.
The entrepreneur, who appears in the Sunday Times Rich List, said he has no plans to divorce his wife, adding: "I am seeing Victoria Jones. She didn't leave [her husband] for me.
"We're not living together or anything like that, I’m seeing her. I’m quite friendly with my wife, I had a meeting with her yesterday.
"I haven’t just seen Victoria. Everyone knows I’ve seen different girls and [my wife] is aware.";
Mr Clare made his fortune launching Dreams in 1987 and growing it from one store to more than 200. He now runs property firm Clarenco and owns £95million worth of properties.
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The Joneses’ split follows a pattern similar to so many lottery-winning couples before them.
