A former binman who scooped a jackpot of nearly £10,000,000 on the National Lottery ended up working a seven day week in a normal job within a few years after blowing his entire fortune.
Michael Carroll had always insisted that he has no regrets after winning and then spending his fortune, and – after he made his return to the working world as a coalman a few years later – said that he felt he was ‘happier now’ and ‘[had] his life back’.
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The now-40-year-old got all sorts of nicknames when he was in the tabloids, such as ‘Lotto Lout’ and ‘King of the Chavs’.
He won the jackpot in 2002 when he was just 19 years old, immediately leaving his life as a binman behind him and embarking on a years-long spending spree.
To say he lived it up whilst he had the cash is something of an understatement.
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He paid just £1 for the ticket that won his riches, and used the money he'd won to buy fast cars, three luxury houses, and all sorts of other stuff.
However, that high living all came to an end when he ran out of cash by 2010.
After spending it all, he admitted that the time he spent living as a rich man were the ‘best years of [his] life’ and said that he wouldn’t want to go back in time and do things differently.
Speaking with The Mirror at the time, he said: "It didn't go wrong - it was the best 10 years of my life for a pound.
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"I don't look back with any regrets that's for sure.
“It was 10 years of fun for a pound, you can't go wrong with that.
"I wouldn't want to turn the clock back.
“But I live a good, free lifestyle now and I'm happier because I've got my life back."
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Carroll also gave away a decent chunk – around £4 million - of his winnings along the way, giving a million quid each to his now-ex-wife Sandra, and the same to her mum, his mum, and his aunt.
By 2012, his life of lavish holidays and luxury was coming to an end, and his mansions were falling into disrepair and being sold.
What’s more, he’d been barred from all the pubs around his house.
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By 2019, he’d moved back to his native Scotland and was renting a £500 house.
He even admitted to still taking the occasional flutter on the lottery.
At the time, he told The Sun: "If I won again, I'd be down the yard at six every morning just to keep out of trouble.
"People often say to me, what does it feel like to have lost all that money?
“I tell them I didn't lose it...I spent it!"
Fair enough – perhaps it’s better to have had the money and spent it than to never have had it at all.
Topics: UK News, Money, National Lottery
Tom Wood