Amadou revealed that he had waited until the money was in his bank account before sharing the news, choosing to let daughter Takysha in on the secret on a trip to Nandos. “I was really excited, I was screaming and shouting,” he recalled, “I managed to keep it quiet until everything was sorted out. My daughter was shocked, she was shaking and said 'is it real?'”
He told reporters he had spent a late evening at work as a kitchen manager at the town’s Lloyds No 1 bar, knowing that he had a prize-winning £4 Million Black and Gold scratchcard about his person. "I didn't finish until 11.30pm or 12 that night, so had to work for almost four hours knowing I had won,” he said, "I don't know how I did it."
As well as looking for investment opportunities, Amadou says he will take an intensive driving course and splash out on a Peugeot at first, to gain some experience on the roads, before upgrading to a BMW X6, the vehicle he describes as his “dream car.” He is also looking to buy a house and pay for his daughter’s university education, as well as taking a holiday to Gambia, where he lived before arriving in the UK more than 20 years ago.
Amadou obviously has the lucky touch, having bought two scratchcards on the same day, one netting him £20 and the other bringing him his seven-figure win. Talking about the moment he realised he was about to become a brand new millionaire, he said, “when I saw the number '4' on the card I knew they didn't pay out £40, so I knew it had to be £4million. I scratched off the rest and oh my, I was so excited.”
There are a vast array of UK National Lottery scratchcards available online and at authorised retailers, with jackpots ranging from £500 to £4 million. You can also win big by playing EuroMillions, which is worth £48 million (€63 million) tonight, or Lotto, where Saturday’s jackpot stands at £15 million.
