National Lottery Explains Why UK's Biggest Ever Winners Decided To Go Public

If you won the lottery, what would you spend your winnings on?

That's the question that has been dreamily discussed by countless ticket-buyers down the years. But if you actually do win the lottery, as well as deciding what to spend your millions on, you also have another very important quandary to ponder - do you go public?

Last week, it was announced that someone in the UK had won the £184 million EuroMillions jackpot, becoming the UK's biggest ever National Lottery winners.

Since the news broke, people across the country have been wondering who the lucky blighters could be, and now they've made themselves known.

Joe and Jess Thwaite made the decision to step out of the shadows and hold aloft the life-changing mega cheque with pride, leaving the rest of us to look on in envy.

Sky News

And while holding the massive cheque and spraying champagne everywhere does look like good fun, it's a big decision to announce to the world that you've just had the best part of £200 million transferred into your bank account.

Surely the Thwaites can now expect an influx of 'second cousins' knocking on their door looking for a slice of the pie. So why go public?

Speaking to LADbible, Andy Carter - senior winners' advisor at Camelot (the company which runs the lottery) - said 'it's not for everyone', and the decision needs to be made on a case-by-case basis.

He explained: "It all depends really on how much you've won, your circumstances, how old you are, your family set-up, what you've got going on in your life.

"Really, you've got to sort of think to yourself, £184 million is quite a difficult amount of money to hide.

"Inevitably, if you want to do lots of good - whether it's helping other people, or doing fantastic things for your community or for charities - it's very obvious. It's difficult to hide mass amounts of money.

"So sharing the win actually enables the story to be got out there so everybody knows exactly what has happened."

He continued: "You've got to consider, can you hide £184 million? It's a big story, the biggest lottery jackpot ever in the UK, it's of interest to people.

"As soon as that draw was made, everyone was talking about who's won this money. You've got to sort of think forward. You want to really make a difference to people's lives; everyone would have someone they want to gift to or help pay.

"Now, if you're suddenly gifting someone, multi millions of pounds, they're gonna want to know where that came from."

As such, while the Thwaites' friends or family members would no doubt gratefully receive hefty donations in way, shape or form, Carter said it might be less burdensome to receive if it doesn't come with a secrecy string attached.

Camelot

He said: "They want to make sure that they don't burden their friends or family with secrets - secrets are difficult to keep, aren't they?

"And especially with such a vast amount, such a vast amount that actually the figures involved are eye-watering."

He added that going public is in no way incentivised and there is a 'whole suite of advice' on offer to lottery winners.

As for the Thwaites, the money is already in their bank accounts and the world is now very much their oyster.

I'm sure I can speak on behalf of all of us when I say that we're absolutely delighted for them and not in the least bit jealous.