National Lottery winner scoops £3.8m jackpot but Rhyl grandmother still wants to have a 'normal' Christmas

Diane Bate, 70, who is retired and used to work in Social Services has been named the winner of the lotto draw on 12 December.

The pensioner was 'physically sick' the moment she realised her National Lottery win was genuine; both her husband, Michael, 74, and granddaughter had to check the ticket to prove it wasn’t a hoax.

Diane said: “I checked my ticket early on Sunday morning using the National Lottery app when it made a funny sound. I looked at the amount and couldn’t quite believe my eyes, I thought, ‘surely that can’t be right?!’ The most I have ever won before is £100.

“I was in total disbelief so I woke Michael up to check the ticket – he wasn’t happy but we’ve been married 52 years so he soon got over it.

Lucky Diane Bate, 70, with husband Michael celebrating their lottery win

"I still didn’t believe it, so I also checked it with my granddaughter too. I must have checked it about six times in total before I started to believe it was real, and at that point, I was physically sick."

Diane added: “My granddaughters played a trick on me once and had convinced me that I’d won £1,000 on the Bingo, which nearly gave me a heart attack. The feeling of winning the lottery doesn’t even compare – I am on cloud nine."

After the win had started to sink in, Diane spent the rest of her Sunday in a bit of a daze. She cooked a big family dinner to take her mind off things and called her loved ones to tell them the news. She said.

“I called my daughter and she thought I was kidding," she said.

"I then called my grandson and he didn’t believe me either so, as part of our support bubble, he rushed round instantly to check the ticket for himself.”

Despite being a newly-made millionaire, family-orientated Diane plans to have as normal a Christmas as possible with her loved ones before deciding what to do with her new-found fortune in the New Year.

Diane added: “We want to buy a bigger house locally as we love the area but, we don’t want a mansion or anything flashy. The USA is our favourite destination, we have been about 15 times and would love to go back as soon as it’s safe to do so.

"Canada is also on the bucket list and we have a daughter who lives in Australia who we would love to visit again. We will definitely be treating ourselves to first class flights on our travels.

“There is nothing in particular I want, I have everything I need really...but buying a new handbag always makes me feel nice.”

Diane has won £3,800,000!

As well as holidays, homes and handbags, Diane plans to help her family out with the winnings.

“One of our granddaughters is getting married in the USA in January," she said.

"We aren’t able to attend due to Covid unfortunately, but the win means we can help out financially and help give her an amazing wedding.

“Michael, who retired as a HGV driver some 15 years ago, has suffered from ill health recently so this win is a real pick-me-up for the both of us. Being able to help out our family brings us so much happiness – it isn’t just a win for me, it’s a win for them too.”

Diane matched all six main numbers in the Lotto draw on 12 December.

She bought her winning Lotto ticket at ASDA on St Asaph Avenue in Flintshire.

The winning Lotto numbers for the draw on Saturday 12 December, 2020 were 13, 38, 39, 49, 53, 56 and the Bonus Ball number was 59.

This Wednesday’s (December 23) Lotto draw is a special Christmas ‘Must Be Won’ event, with a £15M jackpot prize up for grabs.

In a ‘Must Be Won’ draw, the jackpot has to be won, either by players matching all six numbers, or if the jackpot isn’t won it will filter down the prize tiers to boost all the other prizes, meaning lots of players could win lots more.

People can buy tickets in their local store or, if they prefer, they can play online at national-lottery.co.uk or by downloading the National Lottery app. Playing online via the website or app means that your ticket is checked, and you get an email notification if you win a prize. You can also scan your retail tickets on the National Lottery app to check if you're a winner.

By playing any National Lottery game, players help to raise an average of £30M every week for National Lottery Good Causes across the UK.