A man who blew the £11 million lottery jackpot he won in the ‘90s is now back working regular job - and loving it - after a series of bad investments and buying a football club.
Mark Gardiner, 61, from St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, is now a glazier who owns the company Croft Glass which operates around Sussex and Kent.
In June 1995, he and his then-business partner Paul Maddison won a huge jackpot of £22,590,829 which they split between them.
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However, a series of bad investments saw Gardiner lose millions of his winnings.
He later said that winning the jackpot 'ruined his life', The Sun reported.
Around 21 years after winning the lottery, Gardiner was interviewed on Good Morning Britain in a segment about how the lottery changes lives. Though he admitted he only had ‘about £10’ left from his winnings.
After Piers Morgan roared with laughter, Gardiner explained: “Well I’ve done something that’s very sort of naughty of me, I’ve spent some and had some fun and bought properties and gone on holidays and bought cars - so I know you’re not supposed to spend the money, so I do apologise.”
He continued: “Well, winning this type of money obviously changes your life immensely and it’s I suppose really it’s depending on your age on when you win and your family and friends you’ve got around you and what sort of family structure - so I can’t really say what’s gonna happen to other people because you can only judge on what’s happened individually.”
Gardiner said the best thing about the winning the money was having the funds to sort out emergency health care, saying it was a ‘great feeling’ knowing he could ‘pick the phone up and organising the best hospital or health care for your relatives and that was a really great buzz’.
He joked that the worst thing about winning was back in 1996 being invited to the Daily Mirror offices by the editor, who was Piers Morgan at the time, referencing all the media attention he had.
Gardiner invested £2 million of his lottery winnings into his own company, The Sun reports, in addition to owning a football club in Hastings and a home in Barbados.
He recently told The Sun: "Don’t get me wrong, if I won the lottery now at 61 - I’d have done so many different things. I’d have stopped work.”
Gardiner added: “I decided to invest money into it [his business]. I wanted to see if I had the ability, the skill and the knowledge to take it further. It was like a test and I have passed.”
He still plays the lottery using the name winning numbers he used in 1995 in the hope of another win.
Topics: National Lottery, News, UK News, Money
Gregory Robinson