I was left in floods of tears after £50k Bingo win… one mistake would have left me with nothing
A BINGO player was moved to tears after scooping an incredible £50,000 jackpot prize.
Big winner Tayla, from Burton, bagged the windfall at the Staffordshire town’s Mecca Bingo event.
The lucky victor experienced “tunnel vision” when she discovered how much she had won – after initially holding out for a house prize of £250.
Tayla needed to match all the numbers to win the jackpot.
“I kept nudging my boyfriend, saying my ticket was doing well,” she recalled.
“When I shouted ‘house’, I thought it was quick but didn’t realise how quick.
“I was overwhelmed just thinking I’d won the local club prize.
“When my boyfriend told me it was £50,000, I instantly started crying.
“It was like tunnel vision.
“Everything went into slow motion and I remember a big uproar of cheer.
“Five minutes later, they called me up on stage with a confetti cannon, and I realised this was actually happening.”
Tayla, who recently nabbed her first home with her boyfriend, is yet to move into the property following various issues.
She says she now plans to use the mammoth sum to renovate the gaff and finally move out of her parents’ home.
She continued: “Every time we go to the bingo, we say if we win, let’s fix the leaky roof.
“Now, it’s actually happened!
“We’ve already booked for the roof to be prepared.
“As a treat, we might go on a holiday as well.
“It just all still doesn’t feel real.’’
The event’s general manager, Terry Connelly, said he was “over the moon for the jackpot winner.
Terry said: “We’re always thrilled for our winners but the £50,000 National Bingo Game jackpot is a real cause for celebration!
“We’re delighted that Tayla and her boyfriend are now able to move in and make their first house a home together.”
JACKPOT JOY
And it’s not just Tayla whose life has changed following her Mecca Bingo windfall.
Anita Campbell, from County Durham, saw her life change forever after bagging an eye-watering bingo jackpot twice in ten days.
Anita had been a frequent visitor at Mecca Bingo Sunderland until her mother passed away in 2018.
Lotto winner who landed £3.6m find new man
A LOTTO winner accused of dumping her boyfriend after they landed a jackpot worth £3.6million and keeping the winnings is enjoying a lavish lifestyle – with a new man.
Laura Hoyle, 40, and Kirk Stevens, 39, won a ‘set for life’ prize of £10,000 per month for 30 years in 2021 – and the paranormal-loving pair revealed plans to launch a ghost-hunting business.
But a year later Kirk told The Sun how Laura – to whom he had planned to propose – had dumped him, taken the winnings and moved alone into the £500,000 Nottingham home they had planned to share.
She was able to claim the jackpot after the split as the winning ticket had been bought using her card.
Now new man Graham Jones is enjoying the lifestyle Kirk once thought would be his – with Laura posting a string of loved-up photos of the romance on social media.
One pal has hailed the pair – thought to have been dating for around a year – as a “beautiful couple” while another gushed: “Great to see you happy.”
The pictures have devastated Kirk, who previously told the Sun: “Laura had told me we’d live the life of Riley if we won.”
Lotto winner Laura’s Facebook page reveals she is enjoying the glam life – with holidays, a sleek new look and a trip to the Strictly ballroom in Blackpool.
But on her arm is Graham, rather than irked Kirk.
Engineer Kirk previously told The Sun he had let Laura live in his three-bedroom home rent-free if she paid £25-a-week into lotto on their behalf.
After landing the Set for Life prize in March 2021, Laura quit her job at Hermes and the pair bought a Porsche Cayenne, as well paying for Kirk’s Master’s degree, with him recalling: “We had plans for the future.
“We were going to buy properties together and build an empire.”
But their relationship fell apart in 2022, just 16 months after their win.
Kirk previously said: “I wanted to try to fix it but Laura wasn’t interested. It was like the money gave her confidence to throw it all away.
“She became snobbish and superior..when it became clear we were not going to work things out, I asked her: ‘What about our Lottery win?’ She said, ‘It’s not ours, it’s mine’.”
The pair used to share videos of their spooky adventures on their YouTube channel, ‘K & L Ghost Hunters’.
Since their split, Kirk has documented his solo paranormal pursuits on ‘Ghost Hunter Kirk’, which has around 6,000 subscribers.
She made it “very clear” to Kirk at the time that the money was hers and hers alone, and that the £1,000 she had previously been paying him every month was “rent” and not a share of the winnings.
After the split, Kirk said that all he wanted was 10 per-cent of the win: “I just want ten per cent. If she continues to pay me £1,000 a month, I’ll happily walk away. She won’t even notice it.”
Just months later, in September 2022, Kirk revealed new fears that Laura would take his dogs away and said that would hurt more than losing out on the cash.
The former couple shared two cocker spaniels, Teddy and Barney, and had a joint custody arrangement.
But Kirk was worried Laura would fight him for sole custody of the dogs.
He said at the time: “The only communication we have now is over the dogs. We both own them and are splitting time with them. I may not have any lotto money but at least I still have the boys.
“These dogs mean the world to me. I hope she never takes them away from me. I couldn’t bear that. It hurts to lose the money we won together but it would hurt even more to lose the dogs.”
Kirk didn’t respond to requests for comment. He last spoke in April last year when he said: “I would like to just put all this behind me. I’ve moved house and jobs also, to just get away from everything.”
After the heartbreaking death, she decided to re-open her account online and deposit £100.
And within just hours of opening her Mecca account, the mum-of-four, who was previously getting by living on Universal Credit was able to scoop a jaw-dropping £597,000.
And earlier this year, a retired foster mum pocketed £83K on the People’s Postcode Lottery,
Susan Dodds, 66, also a former hospital worker, said she is looking forward to revamping her Whitley Bay home of 40 years.