VIDEO: Recapture the moment an ordinary couple from Wisbech collected a cool �101m lottery cheque
CAMBRIDGESHIRE couple Dave and Angela Dawes have said they intend to make their family and friends instant millionaires after scooping the �101million EuroMillions jackpot.
The pair were revealed to the world’s media on Tuesday after claiming the third biggest prize ever won in the UK.
Speaking at the press conference, Dave, 47, said: “We have got 15-20 people that we are going to make millionaires. We will help charities, family and friends and people that have helped us through life.”
The pair relived the moment they watched their seven numbers come out and the nervous wait to verify their ticket.
Dave said: “We still didn’t believe it until we had it verified. We thought someone was going to say; ‘no sorry, there was something wrong with the ticket’.
“When it came on television how many winners there were I just looked at Angela and said: ‘My God we are the only ones’.
“I think several boxes of tissues later we calmed her down. She tried to go to bed for all of half an hour but she couldn’t sleep.”
Most Read
- 1 Recap: Live traffic updates during rush-hour after crashes on M25 and A414
- 2 Could St Albans see a new city council?
- 3 Woman 'sexually assaulted by two men' near River Lea in Wheathampstead
- 4 Doctors save woman's life during St Albans parkrun
- 5 See inside this £4,950 per month rental property on St Albans' prestigious The Park
- 6 St Albans City retain three more players ahead of National League South season
- 7 Another good season for London Colney Youth celebrated in style
- 8 St Albans music and fizz festival fundraising for refugees
- 9 The Midwich Cuckoos: Keeley Hawes on Sky's gripping new drama adapted from John Wyndham’s sci-fi novel
- 10 What next for residents of St Albans' Telford Court?
Dave, a shift supervisor at Premier Foods, also announced his plans for early retirement and luxury living.
He said: “I’m an avid Chelsea fan so I think I’ll be buying a season ticket and a house in Chelsea, with my own Chelsea room. I have already started looking for a house in Chelsea on the internet. I saw one for �13m and I thought: ‘That will need a refurb.
“If they (Premier Foods) are watching then I’m officially retired. I have told my line manager now. I was supposed to be at work on Sunday and I had to phone in sick.”
The pair intend to get married next year - although Angela has already changed her surname to Dawes.
Angela, who until recently had been volunteering at the British Heart Foundation in Wisbech, said the pair would also be buying a house in Portugal, where her parents live.
She said: “Dave has already bought me an engagement ring but he will be buying me a better one now! My dad doesn’t drive but he’s already put a request in for a Rolls Royce just to polish it.
“It’s an excessive amount of money. Even now, looking at it, it just seems like a lot of figures. But we intend to make all our family and friends millionaires. It’s not just us that will benefit.”