The EuroMillions jackpot has reached £184m, making it the largest ever lottery prize up for grabs in the UK.
No ticketholder won the £172m EuroMillions jackpot on Friday, meaning the top prize has rolled over into Tuesday’s draw.
Now a single UK lottery winner could push the current British record holder, an anonymous £170m winner from October 2019, into second place if they win Tuesday’s £184m jackpot.
The winner could count themselves richer than singer Adele, who has a net worth of £130m, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.
They could also purchase a house in each of the top 10 priciest streets in the UK, including in London’s Kensington Palace Gardens, where the average house price is nearly £30m.
Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at The National Lottery, said: “Specifically for large amounts of money, £184m, it’s not just about making a difference to you or your family. If you want to, it can make a difference for generations and generations to come.”
The adviser said some winners like to set up big charitable trusts, while others gift money to friends and family.
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“The great thing about £184m is you can do all of those things if you wish,” he said.
“Certainly lots of friends and family have benefited and whilst the National Lottery has made over 6,000 millionaires in 27 years it’s been in existence, there have been many hundreds of other millionaires that have been made by winners giving away millions of pounds.”
While he cannot play the lottery himself and will “never know how it feels”, Mr Carter said he would spend his winnings by making sure his family were well looked after and travel around the world to watch his favourite sports.
The EuroMillions jackpot will be capped once it reaches £187m (€220m).
If no one claims the winnings on Tuesday, the jackpot stays at £187m for a further four draws.
It must be won in the fifth draw, and if no ticket matches all five main numbers and two Lucky Stars, it rolls down into the prize tier where there is at least one winner. That could result in many new multimillionaires.
Mr Carter said he has advised some people who have never told a single soul of their winnings and has seen “all sorts” of reactions in his 15 years dealing with lucky ticketholders.
“I’ve seen people be sick with excitement, I’ve seen people resign their job on the spot, I’ve seen people jumping up and down, I’ve known husbands who haven’t told wives and wives who haven’t told husbands, I’ve been to homes where there’s literally a party going on already,” he said.
His team make sure the winner gets access to expert advice, from a lawyer to a financial adviser and even a life coach. They also put them in touch with other winners.
“If you’ve won a large amount of money in the National Lottery, the best thing you can do is go and have a cup of tea with another winner, because they’re the people that will truly understand,” Mr Carter said.