The couple from Peterborough said they deliberately waited before claiming their prize: “I know it sounds mad but we had a guy in to paint the whole house. We’d been planning it for ages and had packed everything into boxes,” explained Lisa. Their decision did mean that her husband Gerry was forced to carry the winning ticket in his wallet, a task that his wife described as “very nerve-wracking”.
It was only after an impromptu visit to a fish and chip shop on the day of the draw that Gerry decided to to purchase five Lucky Dip tickets, having seen the jackpot total advertised on a poster. It wasn’t until the following morning that the 63 year-old first noticed the win.
Gerry, a retired teacher, couldn’t quite believe the good fortune that he and his wife were experiencing and was even doubted by his own father: "It was only when our 11-year-old son read out the winning numbers on TV and they matched did Dad finally believe me,” explained Gerry. Despite confirming the numbers for Gerry, his son didn’t quite understand the enormity of the situation: "Our son asked what it meant. I just said 'Daddy's won an awful lot of money'."
The couple already have big plans for the money, with a holiday to New Zealand on the cards for the family, while Gerry hopes to upgrade his car to one that can accommodate his golf clubs. The pair also hope to move house, despite the recent redecoration of their current home.
By matching the six lucky numbers of 15, 16, 23, 39, 48 and 59. Gerry and Lisa collected a total prize worth £32,534,188. This prize catapults the Cannings into second place on the list of largest Lotto jackpot winners of all time, just over £500,000 shy of top spot, a position held by David and Carol Martin following their huge win of over £33 million on 9th January 2016.
