Callie Rogers: £1.9m at 16, money gone, later retraining as a nurse

Callie Rogers was 16 and living with foster parents in Cockermouth, Cumbria, when she won £1,875,000 on Saturday 28 June 2003. She had been working at the town's Co-op. Her share came from a £15 million Lotto jackpot split eight ways, and it made her the National Lottery's youngest millionaire at the time.

She bought homes for herself and her mother. By her own later account she spent around £18,000 on cosmetic surgery, £300,000 on clothes and £500,000 on gifts. The Guardian said much of the rest went on parties and drugs.

In 2021 she was reported to be raising four children on universal credit. That year she was also arrested for driving under the influence of cocaine, which led to a 22-month driving ban. In 2023 she was reported to have enrolled as a mature nursing student at the University of Central Lancashire.

The minimum age to play the National Lottery has since risen from 16 to 18. Online sales to 16 and 17 year olds were due to stop in April 2021, and the legal change took effect on 1 October 2021.

A sudden win is not a plan. If gambling is causing you problems, BeGambleAware.org offers free, confidential help.

Sources

• BBC News: Lottery winner looks to future (2003) (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Guardian: Curse of the lottery? What happened next to four winners (theguardian.com)
• LBC: Youngest lottery winner retraining as a nurse (lbc.co.uk)
• GOV.UK: Government response on the National Lottery minimum age (gov.uk)