The family syndicate, consisting of Stephanie Davies, her boyfriend Steve Powell, her sister Courtney, their mum Sonia, and Sonia’s partner Keith Reynolds, matched the numbers 1, 21, 26, 40 and 50, as well as Lucky Stars 2 and 4, to become the tenth-largest National Lottery winners. A National Lottery spokesman added: “What an amazing win for the UK - the fourth EuroMillions jackpot to be won here this year.”
Stephanie bought six Lucky Dip tickets for the draw after getting a call from mum Sonia, who was feeling lucky after travelling to the USA to have keyhole surgery to remove a parathyroid tumour. Sonia said: “They told me that if it hadn’t been removed it would have been fatal – and at the very least I would have lost my voice within a year. They managed to give me the all clear straight after the operation, so as you would imagine, we were on cloud nine."
Stephanie was the one who checked the numbers, late at night after an evening out with friends, and she could not believe their luck. “As soon as I saw that ticket I had my hands over my eyes, I was shaking, I was crying. I said to Steve 'for once in my life I am not even joking'. We checked the ticket about ten times over." Stephanie added that she and Steve took selfies with the ticket just in case something happened to it.
The lucky winners, who will receive more than £12 million each, have yet to make many firm plans for what they want to do with the money. Stephanie and Steve are thinking about a holiday to the Caribbean, Courtney has her eyes on a new car, while Sonia and Keith are looking forward to treating family and friends.
The Davies family’s prize falls some way short of the biggest ever UK win, which happened when Colin and Chris Weir pocketed an extraordinary £161.6 million in July 2011, but it is the latest in a long line of syndicate successes. Playing in a group increases the chances of winning as you can hold a share of more tickets whilst splitting the costs. Check out the EuroMillions Winners page for more about notable group wins, as well as a list of the biggest jackpots given away and a table ranking all the participating countries by how many times they have claimed the top prize.
The EuroMillions jackpot rolled over last night to drive the top prize back up to £20 million (€23 million) ahead of the next draw on Friday. If you feel inspired by the Welsh family’s big win, you might like to team up with other members of your family, join an online syndicate or try picking a different line to see if helps you land a big prize. You can either enter online or by visiting an authorised retailer in one of the participating countries, and you could just become the latest big EuroMillions winner.