Joe and Jess Thwaite win £184.3 million with a Lucky Dip, May 2022

Joe and Jess Thwaite from Gloucester won £184,262,899.10 in the EuroMillions draw on Tuesday 10 May 2022. No UK player had won more at that point. Joe, who used the app and tended to play when jackpots were large, bought a Lucky Dip at about 4pm that day.

He learned of the win from a National Lottery email. At first he thought the prize was in the thousands, then counted the digits again. Joe, 49, was a communications sales engineer. Jess, 44, ran a hairdressing business with her sister. They had been married for 11 years.

After a week getting used to the news, the couple chose to go public rather than ask so many people to keep a secret. They met the press at Ellenborough Park near Cheltenham on 19 May 2022. Jess said the money gave them time to dream, and was a huge relief after a period of struggling with bills. Plans included a family holiday, a horsebox for their ponies and a Gloucester Rugby match at Kingsholm.

The record did not last long. On 19 July 2022 an anonymous UK ticket-holder won £195.7 million.

Sources

• SoGlos: Gloucestershire couple revealed as UK's biggest ever National Lottery winner (soglos.com)
• The Scotsman (archived): Joe and Jess Thwaite on their £184m Lucky Dip win (web.archive.org)
• Shropshire Star / PA (archived): the UK's 10 biggest EuroMillions wins (web.archive.org)