A UK lottery winner went to great lengths to conceal a £10 million pound lottery win. ($15,471,999 USD) Lottery winner Joe Johnson had been stung by gold diggers who only wanted him for his money and decided to conceal his newfound wealth from the woman who would eventually become his wife. Joe’s wife Lisa treasures a relatively inexpensive ring he gave her as a Christmas present during their fledging relationship. Future wife Lisa had no idea that Joe was a big lottery winner. About the ring Lisa says, ‘I could see Joe didn’t have a lot of money,’ she recalls. ‘So for him to spend what little he had on such a thoughtful gift was lovely. It meant the world to me – it still does.’
Joe went to great lengths to conceal his winnings. During the beginning of their relationship Joe said ‘I would drive to meet Lisa in an old, dirty Land Rover,’ says Joe. ‘I dressed down, took her to a £20 noodle bar for our first date and let her pay half on all our meals out. When I did take her home, I pretended I was house-sitting for a rich friend. Our first holiday together was a £200 budget break in Tenerife in a two-star hotel. I forced myself to carry on deceiving Lisa because I wanted to ask her to marry me – and I had to know for sure that she was saying yes for the right reason.’
Lisa was a single mother who was struggling to make a new life for herself and her five year old son. satta Joe frequented the café where Lisa worked and finally asked her out on a date. On their first date Lisa recalls, ‘Joe picked me up from the two-bedroom flat I rented in Clayhall, Essex. He was dressed in jeans and an old top and he asked me if I liked Chinese food. I was delighted. I imagined a lovely little restaurant with a quiet table for two. Instead, Joe took me to a cheap noodle bar. I was stunned. The bill came to £20 and I asked Joe if he wanted me to pay half. He thanked me and took my money.”
Lisa described a hellish vacation at a cheap hotel on Tenerife. ‘The hotel was awful. Our door had a padlock on it, because they had problems with security. The curtains were dank, horrible and the bed had an old mattress which sank in the middle. I nearly cried when I saw the bathroom – it was filthy.’ Finally the relationship progressed and Joe decided to fess up. Joe recalls, ‘The previous few months had been agony, because I loved Lisa so much and I was lying to her every single day. When she came home from work exhausted, all I wanted to do was tell her she didn’t have to go back.’
Joe finally told Lisa about his £10 million lottery win. Lisa’s first reaction was anger but when Joe explained what he had been through the couple decided to tie the knot and the rest is history.