Kelly Dighton, a mother of three from Lowestoft, Suffolk, has revealed the dark side of her £11.5 million jackpot win, which forced her to flee her council estate immediately after receiving the money.
Dighton and her ex-partner Arron Freeman won the life-changing sum from a £1.50 bet on the online slot game “Mega Moolah” last year, securing Betfred’s biggest ever payout. The couple have since split and divided the winnings equally.
Death threats and kidnapping fears
Speaking on the Tea At Four podcast, Dighton said: “When you win that kind of money, you are in a bubble. I had death threats, people saying they were going to kidnap me to my partner. So we just had to get in a car and go.”
Despite receiving the prize last June, she admitted: “I still feel numb now. I still don’t think it’s real until I open my eyes and I check my bank. I check my bank every day and I’m like, ‘Is it a dream?’ I still feel like someone’s going to wake me up.”
Past struggles and recovery
Just four months before the win, Dighton crashed into an off-duty police officer’s car while high on drugs. She pleaded guilty to drug driving, driving without insurance, and driving while banned. Her 17-week prison sentence was suspended for 18 months, and she now raises awareness about her recovery on TikTok, speaking honestly about her drug addiction.
Now sober, her first major purchase after the win was a £425,000 home for her cousin, whom she described as being like her own daughter.
Friends and family tested
Asked if she had to cut anyone out of her life, she said: “You find out who your real friends are. I mean, I get begging letters every day. There’s only so many people you can help.”
She recounted a false claim from a friend who said: “I’ve got to have scans on a brain tumour. Can you lend me some money?” but it turned out not to be true. Another “ridiculous request” came from a Facebook message: “Me and my partner have retired, but we really want to live in Spain and open a dog shelter — will you please give us £50,000 to move to Spain and open a dog shelter?”
Dighton, who dreamed of being rich since age 10, has been generous with her windfall, giving her mum and sister £325,000 each, the maximum tax-free amount. She also bought a van with a ramp for a friend so she could take her disabled three-year-old child on days out.
Regarding relationships, she said: “I’ll be single for a long time. And then, who do I trust? I couldn’t even trust my best friend, who can I trust?”
She insisted money does buy happiness because it leads to “no worries”, recalling times when she couldn’t provide for her children. “If I can give them what they need, I can live in a comfortable house and I’ve got no money worries, of course I’m going to be happy. I could jet off to Spain, Jamaica. Like, when people say that don’t buy happiness, that does. It don’t buy love, and it don’t buy health, but it definitely buys happiness.”
