Lancashire couple revealed as winners of £61m EuroMillions jackpot

• Report by Granada Reports correspondent Ann O'Connor

A couple from Lancashire have been revealed as the winners of a £61 million EuroMillions jackpot.

Richard and Debbie Nuttall, both 54, from Colne in Lancashire won a £61,708,231 share of the £123 million jackpot prize from the draw on Tuesday 30 January – with the other winning ticket having been bought in Spain.

Speaking at Mitton Hall Hotel in Clitheroe on Wednesday 21 February, Richard shared how the lucky couple realised they had won saying that it felt "surreal".

Richard, who runs his own accountancy business, said: "You dream of winning the lottery and you never think it's going to happen. It's taking a lot of computing."

Initially, he thought it was part of "some sophisticated scam" when he found out they won on holiday in Fuerteventura for their 30th wedding anniversary.

"It was the second day of our holiday and I had got up early to finish off a bit of work. I noticed the email from The National Lottery stating that there was ‘exciting news about your ticket’.

"So I checked my National Lottery account and saw the balance had gone up and we’d won £2.60. Fair enough. I shut my laptop, had breakfast and then we set off for the day, driving around the island. We enjoyed the sea views, blue skies and windsurfers before heading back.  

“It was early afternoon when we spotted another email saying we should check our account. I thought it was odd and there must be a glitch in the system to get a duplicate email but I logged in again to my National Lottery account to check. We were totally stunned, it said we had won over £61M!”

"My first thought was it must be a scam or there was some mix up. I know it sounds crazy but we couldn’t think straight!," he added.

Richard tried to call The National Lottery’s but his mobile phone signal was poor and the call just kept dropping. He then messaged one of his daughters to call him urgently.

"My youngest came back quickly and we asked her to log into our National Lottery account from the UK and double-check.

"She put in my details and then just kept repeating ’oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!!’ It must be real, this was the official National Lottery website we were all looking at.

“Well, by this time me and Debs are going mental, jumping up and down in our car seats, punching the air, thumping the dashboard, the car must have been rocking, it was the whole Delboy and Rodney scene when they finally became millionaires outside Sotheby's!”

What's are the first thing's the lucky couple bought?

The first thing Richard bought was a new set of golf clubs and his wife Debbie bought a new hair dryer.

However, the top of the list for Richard and Debbie is a new family home, still in their beloved Lancashire, where they can host big family Christmas get-togethers.

The couple are also planning for a holiday home in Portugal and hope to visit soon to start their search. 

The couple are also looking forward to enjoying their new found free time.

EuroMillion winner Richard Nuttall initially thought it was a scam when he found out he had won over £61million

Richard is planning to play more golf, both in the UK and abroad, and even has a ‘Golf Swing Room’ on his wishlist at the new house; whilst Debbie hankers after a bigger garden, a greenhouse and extra land for Monty the dog to enjoy.

Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at the National Lottery, said earlier this month: "This is absolutely incredible news and we’re delighted that we’ve received a claim.

"This is the first UK EuroMillions jackpot win of 2024, following on from an incredible 2023 which saw six UK EuroMillions jackpots won, including a £111.7 million win by an anonymous single ticket-holder in June.

"Our focus is now on supporting this latest lucky ticket-holder through the process and helping them start to enjoy their truly life-changing win."

What were the couples lucky numbers and how did they pick them?

The numbers were 10, 27, five, 30 and 19 with the lucky star numbers five and six.

Richard and Debbie also have a charity close to their hearts which they are ambassadors and plan to continue to support, called BK'S HEROES.

The charity was set up in their nephew’s memory, Ben King, who died at 27 years old from a rare condition called Tubular Interstitial Nephritis and Uveitis.

Tubulointerstitial nephritis is inflammation that affects the tubules of the kidneys and the tissues that surround them.

The whole family support the charity which aims to raise awareness of brain cancer and kidney disease as well as raising funds for research into prevention and treatment of these illnesses.

Richard said: "This charity means so much to our family and we are all involved. It was originally set up to raise funds for the ward where Ben was so brilliantly cared for but we have gone on to raise much more.

"Ben was such an inspiration to all of us. He was incredibly brave and positive throughout his treatment and it was his wish for this charity to be set up to do what it can to help lives in the future.”

Richard has been playing EuroMillions for eight years, buying one Lucky Dip line each Tuesday and Friday by Direct Debit through the National Lottery website. Whilst he has landed a few smaller wins, he admits he never dreamt of landing such a huge prize.

The couple have taken the 29th spot on The National Lottery Rich List. They are the 39th UK winner to bank a prize of £50M or more on EuroMillions, and join the more than 7,000 millionaires created by The National Lottery since 1994.

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