A big-time lottery winner once hilariously admitted that the first thing she'd spend her newfound fortune on was a new pair of knickers. Former teacher Frances Connolly, originally from Northern Ireland, won an astonishing £114million in 2019 and stunned people with her no-nonsense attitude to the large sum hitting her bank account. The cheery 58-year-old said the "inanimate" has "no power over you" and that it doesn't change people, or make them either miserable or happy.
As well as joking about winning "a few pennies" – actually a seven-figure sum – she admitted the first thing she'd be buying was some new undies. After scooping the huge win, Connolly and her businessman husband Patrick, moved to Hartlepool and became "addicted" to helping others saying they had given millions away. She also set up two charitable foundations.
The pair set up a yearly charity budget to help others and told The Sun: "If you were a d**khead before you had , you’re going to be a d**khead afterwards." Asked about her first purchase after the life-changing win, she cooly responded: “Do you really want to know? A pair of knickers.” The pair were the fourth biggest winners of the EuroMillions at the time.
At the time of the win her husband, who goes by Paddy, was planning to move to work for a new company in South London. Instead, he quit and they relocated to the North East. Among their lotto purchases, they bought an Aston Martin – although it was a second-hand one.
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