A woman who pranked her husband by telling him they won the lottery managed to manifest up an actual win as they became millionaires just three weeks later,
Charlotte Peart had played a prank on her husband Daniel in 2018, after pretending they'd won a £250,000 ($305,000) jackpot, so when the call came that they'd actually won £1 million ($1.2 million) just a few weeks later, it's fair to say Daniel had his doubts.
His wife had to send him a screenshot showing they had in fact won the life-changing um by matching five numbers on the EuroMillions draw.
In an audio clip that has recently been released, via The Mirror, Charlotte's first reaction to phoning the lottery call center to confirm her win was to burst into laughter before telling the operator: "I think I'm going to cry."
Charlotte, a former admin worker, had initially thought she'd just won £3 ($3.70) on the draw after receiving an email telling her to check her online account, and was gobsmacked to find she was in fact a millionaire.
In the clip of the call, she is heard saying: "I found out this morning. You get emails come through and you’ve won three quid so I left it.
"I thought I would just go on there and check it. I didn’t expect to see six zeros at the end. You don’t see that often. I can’t believe it, I think I’m in shock."
The operator then confirmed that Charlotte had in fact won a million, telling her: "Congratulations, have a good day," to which Charlotte replied: "I’m having a brilliant day, cheers!"
It is now five years since Charlotte's win and the mom-of-three told the publication: "I vividly remember it, I could not stop giggling. It was nerves coupled with shocked disbelief.
"Two weeks earlier I had wound Daniel up that we’d won £250,000 so to call to officially claim £1 million was just crazy."
The 33-year-old had earlier revealed that she'd bought the ticket on a whim with the last £1.50 in the couple's online lottery account.
The pair used the money to buy their dream family home, and the winnings also allowed Charlotte to set up her own small business and spend more time with Daniel and their children, as she admitted: "Without our win, it just wouldn't have been possible."
Daniel, 32, is still working as a carpenter while Charlotte runs her own business, and the pair have two labrador dogs including one called Millie, which is short for "millionaire".
Since the National Lottery launched in 1994, it has created over 7,000 millionaires thanks to its draws, with 375 of them winning in 2022 alone.
Reactions to finding out they've won a life-changing sum can differ greatly, with some bursting into tears, while others ran around the room and some even danced. Anita Pires, who is a call center worker for the lottery, told the publication: "Reactions differ enormously, I’ve heard it all."
I don't know about you, but I'm about to prank all my loved ones by pretending we've won the lottery and hope that my numbers come up a week or two later for real. If it worked for Charlotte, it could happen again.... right?
