SECRET MILLIONAIRE
EuroMillions winner Matt Topham’s neighbours ‘had no idea’ he’d pocketed £22M aged 22 -as racing-nut splits from wife
Matt and his new beau have been taking spins in his Maserati
MATT Topham was just 22 when he scooped a £45million jackpot with his girlfriend - but neighbours "had no idea" about his big win.
The former decorator was a young lad when he bagged the EuroMillions windfall in 2012 with Cassey Carrington - but the lotto curse quickly followed them.
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The childhood sweethearts got hitched the same year and share three children together - but have now sadly confirmed their split.
Matt has moved on with girlfriend Amy Cox, and the pair have shown loved-up displays on ski trips and luxurious London date-nights.
The EuroMillions winner has also been spotted chauffeuring around the mum-of-three in his Maserati.
However, Amy is still living in a £130,000 house near Lincoln, which her dad owns, and driving a £5,000 VW.
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News of Matt's millions came as a shock to neighbours, one said: “We had no idea he was a lottery winner.
"He comes around in his Maserati so he must still have a bob or two.”
Another local added: “I don’t think she has ever worked because she is busy looking after her children, who are all pre-schoolers.
“She has had a few boyfriends so it would be nice if she found happiness with Matt.
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“I don’t know how they met. We don’t see them out and about very often.”
It is not known why Matt and Cassey parted ways, but the dad-of-three did share a message on social media which read: "Sometimes, no matter how nice, kind, caring and loving you are, it just isn’t good enough for some people.”
Quizzed on the separation, Cassey told The Sun: “Matt doesn’t live here anymore.”
Asked if there was any comment she wanted to make on the split she replied: “No, thank you.”
Matt has tried to keep a fairly private life after slapped with a 16-week suspended sentence in 2021.
He admitted to careless driving following the death of Mary Regler, 75, in a car crash in North Cockerington, Lincs, two years earlier.
The EuroMillions player last posted a snap of him and Cassey in July 2021 — four months after the sentencing at Lincoln crown court.
Then, last year, The Sun told how a zoo bought by Matt and Cassey in 2020 — Rushmoor Country Park in Louth, Lincs — but it had “shut down” amid financial strain.
It was snapped up by Matt as a £600,000 gift to his mother-in-law Jane.
He used the jackpot to fill the petting zoo with horses, pigs, pygmy goats, llamas and ducks.
The couple also bought a falconry centre to house falcons, owls, hawks and a sea eagle at the centre, which Jane had run for years.
But the venue confirmed it was now "permanently" shut down not long after.
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According to accounts filed to Companies House, as of March 2022 Rushmoor Country Farm Park had net liabilities of £422,139.
The document also stated that creditors include more than £1m owed to director Cassey, 34, though repayment will not be sought “until the company has sufficient funds to enable it to do so”.
Four People Who Won Big & Lost It All
Many winners have been struck by the lotto curse;
Callie Rogers
- She became Britain’s youngest lottery winner when she won £1.9million in 2003.
- Eighteen years after her win, Callie was found to be claiming Universal Credit after blowing her fortune. The revelation came during a trial after she was involved in a car crash while on cocaine in December 2020.
Michael Carroll
- The self-styled ‘King of Chavs’ was 19 when he scooped £9,736,131 on the National Lottery in November 2002.
- Carroll's wife, Sandra, left him just a month after their wedding in 2003 after being appalled by his incessant partying, accusing him of cheating on her with sex workers.
- He also racked up an ASBO for terrorising his neighbours and spent time in jail for affray and failing to comply with a drug treatment order.
- By February 2010 Michael was declared bankrupt and was claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance.
- He lost his entire fortune and was found working for £10 an hour chopping wood and delivering coal in 2019.
Gillian and Adrian Bayford
- The couple's lives changed in 2012 when they scooped a staggering £148million.
- But just 15 months after the win, their eight-year marriage ended with both parties partly blaming stress on their mind-boggling win.
- Gillian is now with fraudster Brian Deans, who was jailed for six months in 2012 after he stole £13,500 in fake refunds from Tesco.
Margaret Loughrey
- She scooped £27m in 2013 and became Northern Ireland's biggest winner at the time.
- Tragically, in September 2021, Margaret, by now in her 50s, was found dead in her home.
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