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Jackpot: Gloucestershire's Joe Thwaite and Jess Thwaite celebrate
Photo:
Andrew Matthews / dpa
Joe Thwaite didn't wake up his wife Jess when he heard the life-changing news.
It wasn't until her alarm clock rang that she heard she'd won the £184 million jackpot, the biggest in British lottery history.
Then he told her: "I have a secret that I have to tell you," said the 49-year-old on Thursday in his hometown of Gloucester.
He himself got the news at 5:15 a.m. when he got up to walk the dogs.
When he realized that he had won the equivalent of 217 million euros, he didn't know what to do.
"I couldn't go back to sleep, I didn't want to wake Jess, so I just lay there and it felt like forever," the telecoms consultant said.
"I spent some time looking for real estate with no budget limit, that was new."
Winning exactly £184,262,899.10 will give them a chance to have many experiences and go on adventures with family and friends, the couple said.
“We never go on vacation.
Our children would die driving in the sun.” Exact destination: still unclear.
One of the kids would rather go to Hawaii, the other to a Texas horse ranch.
Previous record broken in February
The Thwaites also plan to put money from the profits into their home, which they recently moved into with their primary school-age children, three dogs, five chicks, two geckos and three ponies.
“We're just like any normal family.
It's just a great relief.«
The two chose their jackpot numbers at random, as they said at a press conference.
It is the second time this year that a UK lottery winner has won more than £100m and the 15th time overall.
The £109 million jackpot at the time was hit in February.
The previous record was £170 million, which was collected by an anonymous winner in October 2019.
kfr/dpa/AFP
