Couple plans to swap old ute for ‘one with cupholders’ after Lotto win

A Taupō couple plans to trade in their old ute for ‘one with cup holders’ after winning a $1 million Lotto prize at the weekend.

The anonymous couple, who had played Lotto for more than 20 years with their own numbers, won the prize on Saturday’s draw thanks to some bonus lines they’d won the previous Wednesday.

As the numbers were being drawn, the man quickly found out the couple’s ticket wasn’t a winner.

“We knew they weren’t our numbers, so we didn’t really think much more about it,” he said.

But the couple later remembered they had some bonus lines to check. After checking their ticket on the MyLotto app, “It came up saying we’d won a major prize”.

Scouring the numbers, the couple checked each one by one.

“My wife read them out, and I checked them off. Then we checked it again. And again. I reckon we checked it about ten times because we just couldn’t believe it.”

When it eventually sank in that they had won a $1 million first division prize, the couple were “stunned”.

“We had to have a little sit-down,” the man said. “It was very, very exciting.”

The couple planned to have a “good long think” about what they’ll do with their newfound fortune.

“This is so much money to us,” the man said

While they wanted some financial advice, the couple already had some ideas on what they’d like to do.

“We’ll pay off the mortgage, and I’d also like to trade in the old ute and get one with cup holders,” the man said.

“This really is the ‘Mack Daddy’ of prizes to us. We’ll be able to look after our future very comfortably with it.”