A plasterer has jacked his job in after hitting the lottery jackpot and winning an £10,000 a month for the next 30 years.
John Stembridge is the latest lucky winner in the National Lottery’s ‘Set For Life‘ draw.
The 51-year-old has traded in his trowels and plastering gear for what sounds set to be a laid-back luxury lifestyle with ample time for fishing, travelling, and photography after scooping an impressive £10,000 a month, every month, for the next three decades.
After a long career of labouring, the Wiltshire resident’s “life-changing” lottery win means he’s was able to give up working for good last month.
John says he’d been out for the day on a wildlife photography shoot when decided to swing by a local supermarket on his way home to grab a few bits, and bought the lottery ticket for that night’s game just by chance.
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Like most people, John says he “didn’t believe” he would win – but that didn’t turn out to be the case for once, as the jackpot had his name on it.
Now, the keen fisher and photographer will be able to spend as much time as he likes on his hobbies, and has admitted that his first purchase with his lottery winnings will be a luxury campervan so he can travel all across Europe photographing rare wildlife and honing his craft.
“There’ll be no more days of coming home covered in plaster dust and worrying about money and my family – all of our lives are now changed forever.
“It makes me so happy that I can now help and support my family and those closest to me, and I literally have no more worries in that respect [as] to be in the position where I get £10,000 every month, tax free, is just phenomenal.
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“This win has changed everything for me and those closest to me, and I still just cannot believe it.”
John also reflected back on the moment he found out he’d won the top prize, admitting to “bursting into tears” after the lady on other end of the film confirmed he’d hit the jackpot.
“The lady on the end of the phone said to me, ‘are you sitting down?’ and she then confirmed that I had won the top prize. I literally burst into tears and I cried my eyes out. I could not believe it.
“My life was about to change forever – and this really was happening to me.”
Featured Image – National Lottery
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Everything inside the Sephora VIP goodie bags worth more than £1,000
Daisy Jackson
Sephora opening in Manchester has been causing a bit of a stir, with more than 2,000 people queueing up this week to try and nab a free goodie bag.
And while the presents being handed out to the public are pretty impressive, it’s nothing compared to the VIP goodie bags given out at the store’s official launch on Wednesday.
A number of celebrities, influencers, press and other special guests were invited to have a sneak peek of the huge new shop at the Trafford Centre before its official opening to the public.
At the glittering celebration, VIPs were given a glimpse at the huge range of products on offer inside Sephora’s first UK store outside of London.
Those in attendance included actor and TV presenter actor Katie Mcglynn, TV personality Caroline Thomas, actress Alex Fletcher and radio one presenter Natalie O’Leary, Real Housewives of Cheshire, Love Island personalities, and professional footballer Courtney Duffus.
Special guests of Sephora were then sent home with the goodie bag to end all goodie bags, stuffed full of full-sized cult products.
And having totted up the value of everything inside, we can confirm that each goodie bag is worth more than a grand (£1092.93, to be exact). Wowsers.
Viral products inside include Makeup By Mario lipstick, Olaplex, Brazilian Bum Bum Cream, Glossier You perfume, and MorrocanOil hair treatments.
There are also TikTok sensations like the Dr Jart Tiger Grass treatment, which comes out of its tub green but magically turns beige on the skin, cancelling out redness.
And Tarte’s take on the revolutionary tubing mascara, which comes off your lashes with only water and a wipe, was also chucked in.
The most high-value items in the Sephora goodie bags were an Elemis Pro-Collagen Marine Cream worth £64, Caudalie’s brightening serum at £52, and a Neom candle for £38.
Mancs can apply to be paired up with two potential partners for a ‘unique’ Channel 4 dating show
Emily Sergeant
Those who consider themselves to be pretty unlucky-in-love can now apply to take part in one of the most “unique” dating shows on TV.
Following the undoubted success of the first series – which has been airing on E4 for the past couple of weeks now, before concluding last Thursday (9 May) – Channel 4 has now put out a nationwide casting call for people to take part in the next series of its newest dating game show, Love Triangle.
And the show’s producers are calling on singletons from Greater Manchester to stick an application in.
Mancs can apply to be paired up with two potential partners for a ‘unique’ TV dating show / Credit: Channel 4
Unfamiliar with Love Triangle?
Based off the US and Australian programmes of the same name, the UK version is a so-called “supersized” take on the show, and it seeks to “turn everything you know about dating on its head”.
In what is a first of its kind for UK television, the brand-new relationship format asks six courageous singles to reject all the conventions and pitfalls of modern app-based dating in favour of a “radical” new approach.
Channel 4 is currently casting across the UK for the next series of Love Triangle / Credit: Channel 4
The six contestants will first choose a love match from two potential suitors.
One match embodies each single’s usual wants, type, and desires, while the other reflects their deeper and more “fulfilling” romantic needs.
After choosing one of the suitors to date, the other will then make a “shocking surprise return” to form a love triangle, and then, after dating and living with both suitors, each single faces a choice – they must pick one of their matches to “pursue lasting love”.
The casting call for contestants on the Channel 4 website reads: “In this unique relationship series reflecting dating in the real world, unlucky-in-love singles are matched with two potential partners, who each tick different boxes of their wants and needs, in the hopes of finding long-lasting love.”
To apply for the show, you just need to be 18 years of age or older, a resident of the UK, and crucially, single and “looking for love”.