Ill fortune? The fates of EuroMillions winners revealed as £148m jackpot winner 'kicks out husband' after spending spree
12 March 2024, 14:56 | Updated: 12 March 2024, 15:36
Winning the EuroMillions jackpot can be both a blessing and a curse - as Gillian Bayford recently discovered, after the lotto winner reportedly 'kicked out' her husband following his multi-million pound spending spree.
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After scooping the jackpot, Brian Deans is alleged to have splurged millions of her fortune on cars, holidays and watches.
Following a row over the winnings, Mr Deans was kicked out of their Scottish home, with friends insisting she had already "wasted a small fortune" on him during their time together.
They claimed he would move out following feuds over money and then later returned after she treated him to lavish gifts.
Yet, the pair aren't the first to find themselves in troubled waters as a result of winning a life-changing sum of money.
Callie Rogers aka Britain's Teen Lotto Winner
16-year-old Callie Rogers became Britain’s youngest lottery winner when she scooped the £1.9million jackpot back in 2003.
Growing up in foster care after leaving home following her parents' split, the Cumbria-born winner left her £3.60-an-hour supermarket job in favour of splurging her winnings.
Investing in a £180,000 bungalow, alongside a £76,000 home bought for her mother, the rest of her winnings went on parties, drugs and a boob job.
Around £300,000 is also said to have gone on designer clothes, before the lotto winner was forced to admit the win was a "curse".
“It was too much money for someone so young,” she has previously noted. “Even if you say your life won’t change, it does and often not for the better.”
Now, two-decades on from her win, the 33-year-old is once again claiming Universal Credit following her spending spree.
Michael Carroll aka 'King of Chavs'
Part-time binman Michael Carroll rose to infamy after scooping a £9,736,131 jackpot at the tender age of 19.
Labelling himself the ‘King of Chavs’, the teenager bought his winning National Lottery ticket back in November 2002 while wearing an electronic tag.
His first purchase was said to be a £340,000 on a six-bedroom home in Norfolk, followed soon after by a jeep with the number plate L11 OUT.
Splurging around £1million on shares in Rangers FC, a £49,000 BMW and a swimming pool at the property, his wife, Sandra, asked for a divorce just one month after their wedding in 2003.
Citing his incessant partying as but one reason, she also accused the binman of cheating on her with sex workers and settled for £1.4million,
He was later accused of hosting "Roman-style orgies" at his mansion according to The Sun, adding: “I only started to think about three things – drugs, sex and gold.” he said.
“The dealer who introduced me to crack has more of my lotto money than I do," he joked.
Edward Putman aka the 'Benefits Cheat'
Edward Putman, 46, from Kings Langley, Hertfordshire, won £5million on the National Lottery in 2009 - and later wound up in jail after being sentenced to 9 years in prison for fraud.
Despite the multi-million pound win, he told Camelot he wanted "no publicity" - and continued to claim benefits under the guise of being "penniless".
Mr Putman even wrote pleading letters to the council begging for his benefits to be reinstated after missing a mandatory medical appointment - ultimately conning the taxpayer out of £13,000.
His dishonesty was only discovered after he applied to buy his council flat in Hemel Hempstead for £83,000 under a Right to Buy scheme - a purchase he offered to pay in cash.
However, things took a darker turn when it was revealed that Putman had been jailed for seven years in 1993 after he raped a 17-year-old pregnant teenager.
He was also found to have been behind a string of fraudulent claims, with his co-conspiritor, a National Lottery employee, took his own life.
Carlo Paul Massetti aka Australia's Five-Time Lotto Winner
They say that lightening doesn't strike twice, but in the case of Australian Funeral Director Carlo Paul Massetti, it struck five times.
Quitting his job in 2012 after a huge double Lotto win, the Queensland native then scooped a huge $2.5million in two further lottery wins the space of a single week in May 2018.
It was followed by a further $48,000 win just five days later, with all tickets said to be purchased from the same shop in Bondi, to the West of Sydney.
However, Mr Massetti soon discovered the downsides of the wins, despite indulging in luxury cars, Tag Heuer watches and Louis Vuitton handbags for his girlfriend, Ms Prebble, with whom he was said to have a "toxic" relationship since meeting in 2016.
Run-ins with police followed soon after, with Mr Massetti contravening domestic violence orders and a further count of assault, winding up in a Sydney court in 2019 over a string of further offenses.
Later, New South Wales Police allege that Ms Prebble twice drove on Sydney roads while under the influence of narcotics.
The pair's "wild" on-again-off-again relationship culminated in Ms Prebble following Mr Massetti to New Zealand, where they rekindled their "crazy love" in 2021.
Terry and Lisa Cannings aka 'Mr & Mrs Boring'
But it's not all bad news, despite teachers Terry and Lisa Cannings appearing to be yet another couple who fell victim to what has widely been dubbed the 'lotto curse'.
Describing themselves as 'Mr & Mrs Boring', the couple separated shortly after scooping the £32.5m lottery jackpot in 2016.
Splitting the jackpot win down the middle, twice-married former history teacher Gerry, 70, is now enjoying the fruits of his winnings with new love Samantha Cardell, 55 - who is said to now drive a turquoise Porsche and was a parent at the school where Mr Canning once taught.
Meanwhile, Lisa now lives just two miles down the road, having found love with a football-loving trucker named Carl Weaver following the split.
A friend of the couple said: “Everyone has tried to make out there was this dramatic split with affairs and things - but it couldn’t be further from the truth.
“The reality is Gerry and Lisa split and have both happily found new people to move on with."
