I won £1.8m lottery prize – people call me silly for splashing all our cash on cars and handbags but I had a great time
A MUM who won a £1.8million lottery prize says people call her silly for splashing the cash on cars and handbags – but she had a great time.
Lara Griffiths, 53, from Boston Spa in West Yorkshire, split up with her husband Roger eight years after they scooped the massive jackpot – and went on to lose it all.
But she regrets nothing – and said she is “sick of being painted as tragic”.
Lara said: “It’s become an overriding narrative that the lotto ruined my life.
“People kept saying I was stupid, pumped full of plastic surgery and needed my kids taken away.
“But the fact is, I spent it wisely – and I had a great time.”
Roger and Lara were happily married when they landed the £1.8million prize in 2005.
The first thing they did was buy economy-class tickets to Dubai for a ten-day holiday.
They also bought a £150,000 salon which Lara ran, 30 second-hand cars and more than 15 designer handbags.
The thrifty couple also got a mortgage on a house – instead of buying it outright.
Lara said: “Everyone always asks you what it’s like to win the lottery.
“But it’s not a tangible feeling – imagine being told you suddenly have two million in the bank.
“We went on holiday to Dubai and it was lovely, in the first instance.
She added: “We didn’t fritter money away, though.
“We flew economy class, the cars were secondhand and we got mortgages on all the houses.”
Lara left her job as a teacher because she was afraid kids would look at her differently because of her win – but she was left “bored” by her new life.
She also claimed that Roger splashed out £25,000 trying to launch a music career with his old university band.
The couple split in 2013 after their huge jackpot finally ran out.
Lara and her daughters Kitty, 16, and Ruby, 19, now live with her 86-year-old mum Norma in a four-bed home.
The mum said: “I fully hold my hands up and accept my mistakes.
“I’ve spent the last 10 years making sure my children have a nice life regardless of that.
“But the lottery did not ruin my life.”