Neil Trotter, a former car mechanic and vehicle sprayer from Coulsdon, south London, who won £108 million on the EuroMillions in 2014, has said the windfall is not too much for one person, despite claiming “most of the country” had a problem with it.
His story was highlighted this month after Timothy Schultz, a former Powerball winner, named the one thing Neil had in common with other lottery winners he has interviewed. During a previous discussion together, motor racing fan Neil told Timothy that not everyone was pleased for him after he became incredibly wealthy.
Reaction to the win
“Obviously there are people that aren’t happy with me winning,” he said. “I think most of the country, to be honest. But if it was them, they’d be happy.”
Neil, who was 41 when he won, was then pressed on why people were not happy and he replied: “You know, we’ve had a bit of grief off people that weren’t happy. It’s a green-eyed monster thing and the old saying that it’s too much money for one person to win.”
Neil, who said he knew he would win the lottery before he did, then explained that £108 million was not too much for one person, and that instead, it was too much for other people who “can’t handle how much money you’ve got”. He added: “I’m quite happy, who wouldn’t be if all of a sudden you woke up and you had £108million in your bank account and you could do what you liked?”
Life after the jackpot
As for what Neil did with the life-changing money, he bought a 500-acre estate in southern England and spent years renovating it. He now lives on site in a Grade II-listed Manor House with his partner, and the estate even has its own lake.
He had always dreamed of owning his own lake and was “immensely proud” of managing to make it reality after dedicating nine years to the ambitious project, which had various setbacks like the west wing of his home being flooded. He had to dredge ponds and lakes and remove tonnes of dead trees from woodlands.
However, he told Timothy that sipping cocktails by the beach wasn’t in his nature, and he barely takes a break because he’s “not a holiday person”. He added: “I don’t just like to clear off on holiday and sit on the beach. I can’t do that. It drives me mad. You know, I went away on holiday with my missus because she begged me and I sat there all holiday and read all the legal documents on the house. And the solicitors are like, ‘No one’s ever asked for all these documents before. Why do you want them?’ I said, Because I want to read them, I’m buying this big house, I want to know what I’m buying.’”
“They went ‘but no one asks for these’ and I’m like, ‘Well I want them so send them to me.’ So i literally packed them in my case and took them on holiday and I sat by the pool and read all that. I am bonkers. You know, most people switch off, I just can’t switch off. I’m just like on it all the time, that’s why I have to fill my life with loads of stuff because yeah I would get bored, if you’re not keeping yourself busy and you’ve not got a dream that you’ve got to pursue, then what’s the point?”
