37-year-old single mum of 4 who gather
up the of £14.5 EuroMillions jackpot has stated in strong terms that her ex would not be given any penny from
her, as she narrates her fairy tale rags-to-riches journey in life.
At the moment, she has moved to a
hotel and abandoned her council house. And also gone to view posh houses with
an estate agent in order to depict her new level to the world.
She even went as far as telling tell
her ex that he wasn’t getting a penny of her massive win.
“I’ll always be skint!” he
admitted.
Beverley’s Euromillions winning
numbers were 25, 19, 33, 36, 48 and the Lucky Stars were 2, 9.
As the mum - who has three boys,
aged 17, 10 and 9 and a girl aged five - gave a press conference, three cars
arrived at her Shipley council home in West Yorkshire, to clear it out.
After splitting from her partner
seven months ago she had shed three stone with Slimming World.
Upon winning the lottery, she
immediately rang benefits office telling them that she is no longer in need of
the £400 weekly.
She said: “I rung the inland
revenue (sic) this morning to say that my circumstances had changed and she
said, ‘How come?’ and I said ‘I’ve won the Euros.’
“She was like, ‘Oh, how lovely,
congratulations!’ When I told her how much she went quiet. I thought the phone
had gone dead.
“I said, ‘Hello are you still
there?’ I think she nearly dropped the phone.”
But Beverley became tearful as
she explained: “It’s overwhelming to know that I’m never going to have to
struggle again. It’s just come at a right nice time. I’ve been there like most
people. I’ve struggled.
“I’ve spent many a night with
depression, wondering what would happen to my children, especially when they
are older. Now I don’t have that worry.”
Beverley said: “My son’s a
runner. He ran out of school across the road...I would get phone calls to sort
him out if he was not coping. It’s taken its toll on me.”
She says her priority is a new
home so each child has their own room instead of being crammed into their
council house.
The most expensive house in
Shipley currently is a seven-bed house worth £800,000.
Beverley said: “We live in a
three bed house and there are five of us. It has been crammed for them.
“It will be good to have their
own space, their own room and a nice garden in a nice area. I’m not going to
change their schools though.
“To be honest I’m still in a
whirlwind. I still haven’t got my head round it. I don’t know what I’m going to
spend the money on or who I am going to help.
“But obviously people are going
to be benefit from it. I won’t be keeping it all to myself.”
“The main thing is that my
children are going to be fine,” Bev added. “You pay it forward, don’t you?’
But it’s not likely to directly
benefit her ex, Sean Priestley who boasts of his skill as a freehand tattooist.
The 48-year-old dad to three of
her children, wrote on Facebook: “My ex has won the lottery from Last week
...shes already assured me I will never see a penny so please don’t ask me to
have a word see if I can borrow owt or Invest in anything...its nothing to do
with me I am n probably always will be skint.”
When asked about the news later
he was sat on his doorstep smoking a roll-up he said: “I’m thrilled, chuffed to
bits for her. It’s not my money. The kids are financially secure for the
future.”
Narrating how she found out about
the big win, Bev said earlier: “I woke up Saturday morning and checked the
EuroMillions and saw there was one UK winner.
“I was still waking up when I
logged into my account. I could see the jackpot amount but couldn’t work out
what I’d won. Then I slowly realised it was one UK winner and that that person
was me.
“It was taking a very long time
to sink in. I jumped out of bed and ran into my son’s bedroom and babbled. ‘I’m
a millionaire’.
“All he said was, ‘What you on about?’
I collapsed on the floor and started crying and shaking.”
She said the teenager’s main
response was to ask for £3 million and a new phone.
Bev added: Yes, really
awkwardly“It was crazy, my head was spinning and nothing made any sense,” Bev
said.
“I rang my mum who was in the
shower and she didn’t believe me - it’s just been a rollercoaster. She thought
it was a hoax.”
She explained: “I’m not used to
spending money on myself, it all goes on the kids.”
Bev included: “It was a brilliant
weekend, we stayed in a four star hotel, ate off the ’a la carte’ menu and
drank £25 bottles of wine.”
Bev said: “I got charms for my
children, for love and family and for my new wealth. One says ‘Sometimes you
have to fall before you can fly’.”
Bev added: “It’s been a struggle
financially but now I can be debt free. Before all my money went on the
children and I went around in rags.”
Bev said: “I’m still waiting for
someone to say it’s not real and burst my bubble.”
Her neighbours said they were
thrilled describing Bev as a “good mum”.
Neighbour Kirsty Naismith, 33,
said: “When I saw what was going on I phoned Bev and asked ‘Are you moving
out?’
“Bev said ‘I may as well tell you
that I’ve won £14.5 million’. I couldn’t believe it and did a lot of swearing.
“What she has not taken she is
going to give to charity.
“I am so pleased for her. She is
a good mum, who has really struggled to look after he kids alone. Like all of
us, she could not afford a lot of things like clothes for herself.”
Scarlett Brockhill, 25, said:
“I’m in shock, but good on Bev. You can’t blame her for moving out of this
place as quickly as she can.”
But mum Bev promised: “I’m going
to keep it normal.”
