EuroMillions winner couple look for £7m houses on Rightmove after massive £184m win

Gloucester’s Joe and Jess Thwaite won the life-changing £184,262,899 with a Lucky Dip ticket in the May 10 drawing – today they announced plans to share their winnings with extended family

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A couple who have hit Britain’s biggest EuroMillions jackpot say they’ve already viewed £7million worth of houses online.

Gloucester’s Joe and Jess Thwaite won a life-changing £184,262,899 in the May 10 drawing with a Lucky Dip ticket.

The couple today announced plans to share their winnings with extended family, and even Mr Thwaite’s ex-wife was “over the moon” for them.

Ms Thwaite, 44, said they had looked at what houses they could afford now but said it wasn’t about the number of bedrooms.

She said: “It’s not the number of bedrooms, it was just the max amount you could spend.

“I don’t know, I think I came up to about £7million and then I thought I was being stupid. I thought, ‘What are you doing?’”

“It was just for fun because we didn’t think it was real. He only played a minute and only dreamed for a minute.”

Her husband added, “Yeah, it was just a dream, like ‘imagine that’.”

A quick look at Rightmove reveals the couple can afford a lovely seven bedroom family home on two acres of land for just over £7million right in their Gloucester area.

Another property for sale in Gloucester for around £7million features a five bedroom farmhouse with five additional cottages on site.

The couple may not plan on moving anytime soon as they recently bought a new home.

Asked if her new house is still her “eternal home” after they hit the jackpot, Ms Thwaite said: “We don’t know. I do not know.

“That was our dream. It was our absolute dream to have the ponies at home.”

Mr Thwaite added: “We could set up the house the way we wanted it and make whatever few changes we wanted to shove into the place.”

“But I think we have some time and a little more room to dream,” Mrs Thwaite said.

Mr Thwaite, a communications and sales engineer, and Ms Thwaite, who runs a hair salon with her sister, have been married for 11 years and have two primary school children.

Mr Thwaite, 49, has two university-age children from a previous marriage.

Mr Thwaite said he had already handed in his resignation at work and while he wasn’t a “great car guy” he said he wanted to upgrade his little Hyundai into his dream car – a Skoda Superb station wagon.

The jackpot record was previously held by an anonymous ticket holder who deposited £170m in October 2019.

The couple’s fortune was the second EuroMillions jackpot to be won in the UK this year with a prize of £109m from a February draw.

In a brief statement released after the couple went public with their win, Ms Thwaite’s hair salon, Blow Hair in Tewkesbury, said they wished them “congratulations” and that they were “over the moon” for them.

When we discussed what her children would like to spend money on, Ms Thwaite replied: “When we said to our two youngest children, ‘If you could have anything in the world now that we have this money, what would you want?’ both replied said vacation.

“We don’t go on vacation, they have ponies and everything goes into them.

“So my youngest said she wants to go to Hawaii. We have no idea why Hawaii, but we think it’s YouTube.

“She’s been talking about Hawaii for two years – and when we said she could go to Hawaii, she jumped up and down with joy.

“Our oldest wants to go to America and do a ranch drive on a pony.

“She’s obsessed with her pony – and now we can invite the rest of our family to do that with us – that’s the most important thing for us.”

At a news conference on Thursday, Ms Thwaite said while it was “wonderful and exciting” it was also “a massive relief for everyone who’s been struggling with all their bills and all their stuff the whole time”.

She said: “We’re like any normal family that has this thing, so it’s just a huge relief too.”