The couples who split after winning the LOTTERY

The couples who split after winning the LOTTERY



For most of us, it's the stuff of idle daydreams; scooping enough cash to never worry about money again.

However, while swimming in lottery readies might pay off the mortgage, it can also send life off the rails in spectacular fashion.

This week it was revealed that Gareth and Catherine Bull, who pocketed a cool £40.6million EuroMillions jackpot in 2012 are leading separate lives.



Builder Gareth, 45, is now living in a three-bedroom cottage just over a mile away from the family home and the couple are no longer Facebook friends, a sure sign of a relationship in crisis.

While the pair may be building gilded lives apart, they can console themselves that they're not the first - and probably won't be the last - winners to fall foul of the lottery curse.

Having pots of cash is a game-changer that throws aspirations off course; from lottery jailbirds to broken relationships and social media mishaps, here's some of the ordinary people who've found that winning the lottery and winning at life are very different things.



THE MARRIAGES LEFT IN TATTERS BY A LOTTERY WIN





If the Bulls are heading to the divorce courts, they're not the first. Les and Samantha Scadding, who scooped £45.5million in 2009, divorced in 2013 and Adrian and Gillian Bayford, who won £148million in 2012, split just a year later.

Gillian Bayford also admitted that last year that she has not spoken to her 'greedy' family for nearly one year, despite giving them £20m after the windfall.

She claims her mother, father and brother - who all live in plush houses and drive flash cars thanks to her fortune - 'disowned' her last May, but still expect her to bail them out when they need money.

Elsewhere, Jason and Victoria Jones had been married for only a month when they scooped £2.3million on the lottery in 2004.

However, the pair announced they were to divorce in August last year after Mrs Jones met a businessman one hundred times richer than her husband.



THE YOUNGEST EVER WINNER - WHO WANTED TO SUE CAMELOT





Jane Park, the youngest ever EuroMillions winner at 17, once considered legal action against Camelot, saying her life would have been '10 times better' had she not won £1million.

Now 21, she has since retracted the comments, saying: 'I feel like I have been listened to now and people are actually listening to the difficulties.'

After collecting her prize, she splashed out on 34FF breasts and designer clothes but hasn't found life in the public eye easy, with angry rants on social media commonplace.

A high profile relationship with X Factor contestant Sam Callahan came to an abrupt end after Hibs fan Park posted an image of herself in bed with another man.

This week it was revealed Park has hired two bodyguards to protect her after social media trolls threatened her with an acid attack.



THE 'LOTTO LOUT' WHO SQUANDERED HIS FORTUNE ON DRUGS

Norfolk lottery winner Micheal Carroll declared himself the self-styled 'King of Chavs' when he won nearly £10million on the lottery in 2003. Despite his sudden vast wealth, Carroll soon began frittering it away on drugs and gambling.

He was given an ASBO for anti-social behaviour towards his parents and was eventually jailed in 2004 for cocaine possession. He served a further nine months for affray in 2009.

By 2010, he'd lost all of his fortune and was declared bankrupt. He returned to his job as a binman.

He said at the time: 'The party has ended and it's back to reality. I haven't got two pennies to rub together and that's the way I like it. I find it easier to live off £42 dole than a million.'

Last year, Carroll's aunt and uncle died in a murder-suicide. Stephen, 47, and Allison Muncaster, 48, were both found dead at their home in Magdalen, Norfolk. At the time, nephew Carroll was said to be 'sad' at the news and didn't understand his uncle's motive.

THE WINNER WHO GOT SO BORED HE WENT BACK TO WORK



When Roy Gibney, from Grimsby, picked up a cheque for £7.5million in 1998, it hurtled him from a life of just getting by to complete luxury.

The now 63-year-old promptly gave up work and splashed out on a luxury lifestyle including a home with a swimming pool that bore his name - and lottery numbers - on the bottom. A string of younger girlfriends followed and his status as a local celebrity was confirmed.

However, 14 years after giving up work for the good life, he took a job as a fitter and says he's never been happier.  In 2014, he told the Grimsby Evening Telegraph: 'I gave up work for 14 years, but I got bored.

'I started a sheet metal business, and some nights I work from 7 in the evening until 7 in the morning, and I'm fitter and happier than I've been for years.'

He added: 'I only own one car – you can only drive one at a time, so there's no point in owning ten.'

The winner now spends much of his time in Cyprus with his wife and son.