THAT'S YOUR LOTTO
The four words we wish we knew before winning £58MILLION EuroMillions jackpot – the lotto cost us dearly
Anyone who wins the lottery should heed the former winners' warning
A COUPLE have revealed the four words they wish they knew before winning a £58million EuroMillions jackpot.
Fred and Lesley Higgins bagged the gigantic win in 2018 and despite splashing out £8million on an estate, they have been cautious ever since.
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The pair from Dundee scooped the insane windfall on a lucky dip - but nearly missed out when they realised the ticket had been ripped up and thrown in the bin.
After weeks of trying to get it validated, they were eventually made millionaires.
And although it may seem like a stress-free change of lifestyle, Fred and Lesley said you need to "be suspicious of people".
Their words of advice come after Richard and Debbie Nuttall, both 54, took home the £61million jackpot last month.
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Trying to help the new winners come to term with their millions, Fred said: "Sometimes you need to be suspicious of people and wary of their motives, for example are people only being nice to you so you'll give them some money?
"While I can't advise these new winners on what to do, I can speak from my experience.
"We bought a few properties and made some investments.
"I would say take your time, don't go mad, but do enjoy yourself. Go on the holidays you want, buy the car, but be careful and be wary of people."
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Richard and Debbie were enjoying their 30th wedding anniversary in Fuerteventura when they realised they had won the jackpot.
Richard originally thought they had won £2.60 - but then received another email telling the pair to check their account.
Watch some of the best National Lottery winning reactions from the 7,000 lotto millionaires made since 1994
“I thought it was odd and there must be a glitch in the system to get a duplicate email but I logged in again to my National Lottery account to check," he explained.
"We were totally stunned, it said we had won over £61million."
Richard continued: “We just couldn’t make sense of it.
"My first thought was it must be a scam or there was some mix up."
He said poor phone signal meant the couple couldn't confirm the news with the National Lottery and he turned to his family for help.
"My youngest came back quickly and we asked her to log into our National Lottery account from the UK and double-check," Richard said.
"She put in my details and then just kept repeating, ’Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!’ It must be real, this was the official National Lottery website we were all looking at.”
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When Richard and Debbie finally got through to the National Lottery, the employee told them: "So, I need to get this right… I can confirm you are the winners of the £61,708,321 EuroMillions jackpot prize.”
Richard said: "By this time me and Debs are going mental, jumping up and down in our car seats, punching the air, thumping the dashboard, the car must have been rocking."
The winning numbers on January 30 draw were 05, 10, 19, 27, 30 and the two Lucky Stars were 05 and 06.
Splashing the cash
The lucky couple now plan to buy a new family home and go on a luxury holiday in Portugal.
Richard has already driven home a brand new BMW X5.
And Debbie has handed in her notice at her civil engineering job where she works as a Bidding & Estimating Support Assistant.
Meanwhile, Richard, who runs his own accountancy business, has now informed the company he won't be working beyond the end of this tax year.
With more free time, Richard plans on hitting the golf course more often - and even wants a "Golf Swing Room" in their new pad.
Debbie on the other hand can now enjoy her dream garden and the extra space for a greenhouse.
The couple revealed they had been planning on downsizing just over a month ago.
"Now we are very much upsizing, with plenty of land for Debbie and the dog to enjoy," Richard said.
"Our lives are going to be so different. We have worked hard all our lives and we are now very much looking forward to taking life a bit easier.”
Richard had been playing EuroMillions for eight years, buying one Lucky Dip line each Tuesday and Friday.
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The couple have now taken the 29th spot on The National Lottery Rich List.
And they are the 39th UK winner to bank a prize of £50million or more on EuroMillions.
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