We won life-changing £1m EuroMillions jackpot – we lost friends over it, but we don’t care
A COUPLE who won £1million on a National Lottery scratchcard have lost friends over it – but they don’t care.
Debbie Goolding, 49, bought her £5 ticket with heating engineer husband Joseph, 40, in 2020.
Reflecting on how friends have treated them following their good fortune, Joseph said: “We’ve had a few people get funny about it but my family don’t care.
“We may have lost a couple of friends over it but it just showed they weren’t real friends to begin with.
“All my mates who I went to school with don’t treat me any differently, they don’t expect me to buy them an extra beer or anything.
“I’m still going to work and earning money because I need the money and they are the same. I wouldn’t expect them to buy me anything.”
Debbie added: “The fortune just makes clear who your real friends are. It can be insulting if you just say we’re going to pay for you the whole time. It’s a fine line between being flash and being friendly.”
The couple, from Aldershot, Hampshire, have bought an investment property, a diamond ring, iPads for their children and a Harley Davidson motorbike.
They both continue to work for a living and they are still committed bargain hunters.
The pair joined other Lottery winners to build a herb garden and gym for retired pets at the Cinnamon Trust in Devon this week.
Reminiscing the moment they discovered they were millionaires, Debbie said: “He was watching Independence Day, it was just at that moment when the alien comes out the spaceship and Will Smith punches it.
“I came and sat on the end of the sofa and scratched the card and said ‘I think we’ve won some money’ then he jumped up.
“We went into the kitchen to ring the number and he was just losing his head, he tried to pour a drink but couldn’t remember where the glasses were kept. The next day I rang them again because I didn’t believe it was real.”