‘Modest’ builder, 46, who won £105million on EuroMillions is pining for his old life back on construction site and misses ‘banter’ with his work colleagues
- Former builder Steve Thompson, 46, won the £105 million EuroMillions in 2019
- Read more: Builder who scooped jackpot goes back to work to finish jobs
A former builder who won £105 million in the EuroMillions lottery is missing his old life and the banter on a building site, his old friends have said.
Self-employed Steve Thompson, 46, from Selsey, West Sussex, won the massive jackpot back in 2019 after playing the lottery for 25 years.
The modest builder and his shop-assistant wife Lenka, 44, from Slovakia, packed up their £150,000 three-bedroom terraced house and moved to a £4.5 million sprawling estate in Kent.
But his pals say Mr Thompson longs for his former life. One said: ‘Steve obviously feels really lucky to be in the position he’s in.
‘But nothing could’ve prepared him for the change in his life after he won the EuroMillions.
Self-employed Steve Thompson, 46, from Selsey, West Sussex, won the massive £105 million jackpot back in 2019 after playing the lottery for 25 years
Mr Thompson’s pals, however, said he now longs for his old life, missing the banter on the building site. Pictured: The couple’s old three-bed terraced house in Selsey, West Sussex, before they moved to a £4.5 million home in Kent
‘He’s a very modest, humble bloke and loved his life as a builder.’
‘Steve misses the job and all that comes with it, like the great lads he worked with and the brilliant banter they had together on site’, the nameless friend told The Sun.
The couple decided to stay in their three-bedroom home with their two sons and daughter for a year before moving to a different county.
When he first bought the six-bedroom home, hidden away in 14.5 acres of land and kitted out with a swimming pool and tennis court, the winner said: ‘The kids have finally got their own bedrooms.’
When he won, the dedicated builder vowed to finish the jobs he was in the middle of working on.
He told customers: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll hold to it and get all my jobs done’ as well as promising to give back to the local community.
The builder gave £50,000 to the school his children attended, £50,000 to a medical centre and £100,000 to his beloved cricket club.
At the time his then 10-year-old son begged their father for a Tesla car, while his then eight-year-old daughter asked for a pink iPhone.
The builder gave £50,000 to the school his children attended, £50,000 to a medical centre and £100,000 to his beloved cricket club when he won the jackpot
The win placed the couple, who met at the Bunn Leisure campsite at Warner Farm, Selsey, are now wealthier than singer Harry Styles and Harry Potter stars Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.
Speaking at the time, Mr Thomson said he only realised he had won as he waited to be picked up for work three days after the draw was made.
He said: ‘I am not sure I even looked at the first two lines, the third one just jumped out and I could instantly tell they all matched. I started shaking a lot. I knew it was a really big win but didn’t know what to do.
‘I went out to my van, walked back in, thought about knocking on a neighbour’s door, went back to the van – I think I was on the verge of having a heart attack.’
He said his parents refused to believe he had scooped the jackpot, telling him: ‘We’ll believe it when we see it.’
Mr Thomson said: ‘Now they believe it.’
Mr Thompson is just one in a long line of lottery winners who have seen the downside of winning such a large sum of money.
Earlier this year, Britain’s younger EuroMillions winner Jane Park, now 27, opened up about her win at just 17-years-old didn’t bring her happiness.
Jane pictured at age 17 winning the EuroMillions draw on Friday 26 July 2013. She is the youngest ever person to win the draw
The 2013 winner, who grabbed £1 million, said she would not ‘wish it on anyone’.
She said she was too young to cope with stalkers, death threats and negative media attention.
Speaking to Dr Phil on CBS she said: ‘I splashed out a bit because I never knew the value of a million pounds, I’d never seen that kind of money.
‘I never knew anyone with that kind of money, so I kind of splashed out on stuff that I’ve always wanted.’
In 2017, she made similar remarks about how her life had been ruined and called for an age limit on the lottery.
She told Sunday People: ‘I thought it would make it ten times better but it’s made it ten times worse. I wish I had no money most days. I say to myself, “My life would be so much easier if I hadn’t won.”
‘People look at me and think, “I wish I had her lifestyle, I wish I had her money.” But they don’t realise the extent of my stress.
‘I have material things but apart from that my life is empty. What is my purpose in life?’
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