We’re the £7bn lottery duo – we’ve seen it all from £196m lotto winner to man who won TWICE & most popular 1st buys

KATHY GARRETT and Andy Carter are a £7billion duo.

That’s the astonishing full which the National Lottery’s longest-serving winners’ advisers person handed retired to those fortunate punters who person deed the jackpot.

The brace person met much large winners than anyone other successful the UK.

And to people the lottery’s 30th day they person revealed immoderate of the secrets of the much than 5,000 blessed winners who they person travel to cognize arsenic friends.

Kathy knows the individuality of the enigma recipient of the biggest-ever prize — a mind-boggling £195,707,000 connected the EuroMillions gully successful 2022.

Remarkably, the victor has managed to stay anonymous and Kathy volition not springiness immoderate hint to their identity.

But she does say: “They’ve done precise good and are doing precise well.

Eiffel Tower

“They recognize that it’s a batch of money for them and they privation to springiness thing back, but to bash it successful an anonymous way.

“It’s life-changing for anybody to triumph connected the lottery but erstwhile you triumph that benignant of wealth you request an atrocious batch of enactment and help, which they person had.

“We usher them and present them to radical that tin assistance to marque their travel a small spot easier.”

Andy, 50, has been a winners’ advisor for 18 years and has go a spot of a household name.

When winners telephone the National Lottery to assertion their jackpot they volition often ask: “Will Andy Carter beryllium coming to spot me?”

Over the years Andy has recovered that winners thin to travel a akin pattern. He says: “Most volition bargain a caller car consecutive away.

“Quite a fewer radical volition enactment a deposit connected a car earlier we adjacent get determination and privation to know, ‘When’s my wealth hitting the account?’

“Paying disconnected the owe is the next thing. But the lottery has paid for a batch of caller hips, caller knees, caller teeth, caller hair.”

“And laser oculus surgery,” adds Kathy, 60, a mum of 4 from Kent.

One of Andy’s astir memorable winners, Les Scadding, present 68, won a £45.5million EuroMillions jackpot successful 2009, past invested immoderate of it successful Newport County FC successful South Wales — and became nine chairman.

Remarkably, lone 1 of the 5,000 winners they person dealt with wanted to archer nary 1 — not adjacent family.

Kathy says: “The crushed helium kept it a concealed is that helium wanted to astonishment his spouse and suggest to her.

“He arranged to instrumentality her to Paris for the play and took her to a edifice successful the Eiffel Tower, wherever helium projected to her.

“Thankfully she said yes, and past helium revealed that he’d besides won the lottery. But helium wanted her to judge his connection earlier telling her helium had won a cardinal pounds.”

Private jet

The victor booked his romanticist vacation successful France utilizing an thought that Kathy came up with — a concierge work that marque dreams travel existent for lottery winners.

She says: “It’s proved precise fashionable due to the fact that immoderate of these winners person ne'er been connected a vacation before, oregon they get a cook successful to navigator Christmas meal for each the family, possibly prosecute a backstage pitchy to alert disconnected somewhere.

“Once idiosyncratic virtually went 200 miles up the roadworthy successful their backstage pitchy and ne'er near the UK.

“We had a beauteous mates who won a batch of wealth past twelvemonth and they took the full household distant connected a backstage pitchy — and the canine went with them.”

Andy adds: “Someone said to maine the different day, ‘What’s the constituent of maine having this wealth if I can’t bash worldly with the radical I love?’.”

The duo’s phones often ping with photos of their big-winning clients connected an exotic holiday.

Kathy says: “It’s beauteous due to the fact that you tin spot the quality their triumph is making to their lives and that they’re afloat embracing it and enjoying it.”

Andy adds: “They could person thought of anyone but they deliberation of you. There was a feline I dealt with who said, ‘I’m going to question astir the satellite and ticker cricket’.

“Now I haven’t spoken to him for years, but each truthful often helium emails a picture. He’ll beryllium successful Barbados, Sri Lanka oregon Sydney, successful the large sporting arenas of the world.”

Kathy and Andy are portion of a squad of 7 who sojourn each lottery subordinate who wins much than £50,000.

They instrumentality with them a publication successful which punters tin grounds their memories of the triumph — and a vessel of champagne that comes retired erstwhile each the formalities are completed.

Often during that archetypal gathering winners’ phones volition beryllium perpetually pinging arsenic news leaks retired that they person won the jackpot.

Andy says: “Sometimes you crook up astatine people’s houses and the full colony oregon adjacent the full municipality knows.

You’ve got radical knocking connected the doorway erstwhile you’re determination and messages are coming done saying, ‘Congratulations connected your lottery win’.

“The winner, who hasn’t gone nationalist astatine this stage, volition often look astatine their telephone and say, ‘Oh, I haven’t seen him for years’.

“Nice quality spreads accelerated and radical are genuinely pleased. They similar to cognize idiosyncratic who’s won the lottery.”

Kathy, who was erstwhile hugged truthful hard by a delighted victor that she feared helium would ace her ribs, says: “The oldest victor I’ve paid was 105.

“She lived successful a small location and she had each her household astir her.

“It wasn’t going to marque a monolithic quality to her beingness astatine that property but it gave her existent pleasance to spot that her household would payment from it.”

Another of Kathy’s winners, Doris Stanbridge, from Dorking successful Surrey, was 70 erstwhile she won the lottery’s Set For Life game, which pays retired £10,000 a period for 30 years.

Kathy says: “She volition beryllium 100 erstwhile she gets her past payment. She’s going to person a immense enactment if she makes it.

“Doris is large and truly making the astir of it, helping families and enjoying the holidays.” After 30 years, the likelihood of winning the lottery are conscionable arsenic vanishingly tiny arsenic they person ever been, but Kathy and Andy accidental their large winners support connected playing — and immoderate person deed the jackpot again.

Kathy says: “In 15 years I’ve paid 5 winners implicit £50,000 twice, which is perfectly incredible.”

Andy adds: “Last twelvemonth I visited idiosyncratic who had won and helium said, ‘I deliberation you whitethorn person seen my brother’.

“Two brothers had won the lottery, a twelvemonth apart. One had won £2million and the different conscionable nether a million.”

And Kathy recalls: “I had 2 sisters — 1 won the lottery jackpot and the different won £1million, 4 years apart.”

Very emotional

Many punters springiness up enactment the infinitesimal they win, but immoderate can’t fto spell of their jobs truthful accelerated — including a butcher who scooped the jackpot.

Kathy says: “It was coming up to Christmas and radical were coming to cod their turkeys and helium didn’t privation to fto them down by saying, ‘I’ve got an appointment’.

“He wanted to spot maine due to the fact that helium was going to get his lottery wealth but helium couldn’t conscionable unopen up store and absorption connected his win. So each 2 minutes he’d leap up to spell and manus idiosyncratic their turkey.

“His customers had nary thought helium was disappearing into the backmost of the store to spot me.

“He stayed anonymous. He did transportation connected with the store for a small portion — and past changed direction.”

Andy says: “Builders are the ones that can’t locomotion away.

“They are truthful loyal, they don’t privation to fto anybody down, and adjacent though they could wage for idiosyncratic other to bash the work, they spell and bash it themselves.”

Kathy dealt with builder Steve Thompson, 47, from Selsey, West Sussex, who won £105million connected Euro- Millions successful 2019. Amazingly, helium kept connected moving until each his customers’ jobs had been completed.

She says: “He was very, precise emotional. At the opening helium was successful tears due to the fact that helium conscionable wanted to transportation connected arsenic normal. It was a immense magnitude and it conscionable took him a small portion to get his caput astir everything.

“He’s fine. The full household are truly blessed and they’ve built their ain home.

“He wanted to assistance his friends inactive bash the gathering work. Most winners are loyal — they’ve committed to thing and they don’t privation to fto anybody down.

“So adjacent though they person got implicit £100million present successful their slope relationship they’ve inactive promised to acceptable the small aged lady’s doorway for her up the road, and they privation to transportation connected doing that.”

Andy says: “I person ne'er met a victor who has told the brag to worldly his job.”

Over the years the brace person besides paid retired prizes to tons of household and workplace syndicates.

Andy says: “Syndicates are fun. I erstwhile went to a ceremonial parlour with immoderate undertakers who had won. I adjacent went to the Greggs mill to conscionable workers who had won £100,000 connected EuroMillions. It was similar Willy Wonka successful there.”

In 2012, a twelve bus drivers successful Corby, Northants, won £38million connected EuroMillions and did discontinue their jobs — eventually.

Andy says: “There’s been Tesco’s workers, teachers, nurses, creation teams and pub syndicates.”

Most large winners ne'er hide the numbers that won them the jackpot.

Some person the figures hidden wrong tattoos, others person adjacent had them included successful wrought-iron gates.

Mark and Ruth Chalmers, who scooped £1million connected EuroMillions successful 2018, had their winning Millionaire Maker codification — MHSL49011 — carved into the chromatic partition extracurricular their caller location successful Halifax, West Yorkshire.

Kathy says of the advisor team’s job: “We’re determination for arsenic agelong arsenic we are needed.

“The bigger multi-million-pound winners enactment successful interaction a spot more.

“Some haven’t told a batch of radical astir their win, truthful they similar to archer america astir the large events successful their life. It’s the champion occupation successful the world.”