Lottery player wins life-changing £9.2m in ‘must-be-won’ Lotto jackpot draw

A recent change in the way Lotto works means that players now have more chances to win – here are Saturday’s winning numbers

A lottery player has scooped a life-changing amount of money this weekend. The ticketholder has won £9.2 million in the “must-be-won” Lotto jackpot draw.

On Saturday, the winning Lotto numbers were – Round 1: 22, 34, 41, 43, 54, 56 and the bonus number was 24. Round 2: 12, 18, 40, 43, 44, 45 and the bonus number was 29.

The winner matched all six main numbers to scoop £9,269,710. No ticket holders matched five out of six numbers plus the bonus number to win £1 million. National Lottery recently made a huge Lotto change giving people two chances to win for a £2 line, as reported by ChronicleLive.

For the Lotto HotPicks game, which uses the same numbers as the Lotto draw, no player matched five out of five numbers to take home £175,000. The winning Thunderball numbers were 16, 22, 30, 31, 35 and the Thunderball number was 12. No ticket holder matched all five numbers and the Thunderball, meaning the guaranteed prize of £500,000 was also missed.

Andy Carter, senior winners’ adviser at Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, said: “What a night for Lotto players. One lucky ticket holder has won a life-changing £9.2 million ‘must-be-won’ jackpot in round two of tonight’s draw.

“This is exactly what the new Lotto is designed to do. It gives players more chances to win and creates more big, unforgettable moments like this. This win takes the total number of Lotto millionaires created this year to an incredible 73, so if you played, it is time to check your ticket.

“And beyond the wins, every ticket helps raise around £33 million a week for projects that make a real difference in communities across the UK.” The weekday prize is an estimated £2 million.

Earlier this year, a North East man celebrated a big win. The lottery player from Northumberland said ‘my life can totally change’ after winning £1,000,000 on The National Lottery EuroMillions Millionaire Maker.

He bagged the prize in the special 10 UK Millionaire Maker event held on the draw on Friday, May 1, 2026. The lucky winner bought his ticket online especially for the event, after fancying his chances of becoming one of the guaranteed new millionaires.

He now plans to put his prize towards buying a new home and has vowed to treat his mates to a round of coffees to celebrate. Speaking on his win, he said: “I fancied my chances on the 10 UK Millionaire Maker event, so I bought a ticket.

“I couldn’t believe it when I realised that I had actually won! This means that my life can totally change and I can look forward to an amazing future in my own home.”

Did you know you can make ChronicleLive a preferred source of North East news in Google, which will mean you get more of our breaking news, exclusives, and must-read stories straight away? Here’s more information about what this means and how to do it – you can also do it straight away by clicking here.