After her fella won £1 million, Michelle Oakes, known for her champagne lifestyle, was the envy of Essex, with a fantastic house, riding stables, and a glittering swimming pool. All the riches are now, though…
After her fella won £1 million, “Lotto wife” Michelle Oakes, who was famous for her champagne lifestyle, was the envy of Essex with a fantastic house, riding stables, and a glittering swimming pool. Michelle, who had five wives, had the feeling that she had hit the jackpot once more when she married and fell in love with the architect who built the lavish home she left when her Lotto marriage ended.
However, that love story ended in a disaster and she was forced to live in a static caravan due to her “rags to riches… to rags again” love life. Michelle is now free and single, despite having two failed marriages to soldiers, a forklift driver, a doorman, and a builder behind her. She sees her newfound happiness as yet another upward trend in her fortunes, even though the money is gone. She has already lost the four stone she used to comfort eat during her unhappy marriages, vowing never to tie the knot again, on the eve of her 60th birthday.
READ MORE: ‘I won £11m on lottery but ran out of money – one man chucked his beer over me’
In the cozy caravan, which she jokes is smaller than the stable she had constructed next to her old swimming pool, Michelle enjoys snuggling up with Labradoodles Betty, Kofi, and cat Bruce.
She claims that she has lost everything. But I’ve always been the happiest. When the mother-of-three was just 23 years old, Simon Corne became her first husband in 1991. Matt and Charlie had sons Matt, 37, and Charlie, 33, but they divorced because they were both too young to settle in.
A year into their relationship, Gary Brand, a taxi driver and doorman, won a £1 million lottery win. Gary, according to her, “went from being a member of a syndicate that won the lottery to becoming a millionaire.” We were so happy living the dream that our lives changed overnight.
“Our 1902 cottage was transformed into a stunning, large, swimming pool in the backyard. My horses and a dressing room were both put in by Gary next to our bedroom. Our fleet of glamorous vehicles, including my lilac BMW, were triple garaged in front of electric gates. The quality of life was incredible. He had such a kind heart.
“When we got married in 1997, I quaffed pink champagne and we spent the next couple of years travelling the world, taking incredible holidays to New York, Disney World, visiting all of the Greek Islands and flying out to Ibiza at least three times a year. Gary was a great man and loved spoiling me with beautiful jewellery and fancy cars, but after a couple of years the relationship went stale, as we wanted different things.
He and I ended up divorced in 1999 because he was focused on growing his business. I sold the diamonds and moved on because it was amicable and I left with a £37,500 settlement and a sizable solicitor’s bill.
Michelle and Terry Clarke had a son named Mason, who is now 22 years old, a year after their 2002 divorce, but she later said, “I do” to another soldier, Richie Oakes. But by 2009, they, too, had divorced. Michelle and the lovestruck builder who had met through a chance on the dating website Plenty of Fish, met again in the news in 2014 after it became known that she had fallen in love with the woman who had built her dream Lotto home.
After she unwittingly messaged him after seeing his profile on dating website, Ian admitted he had fallen in love with Michelle while digging out her pool in the 1990s, and that their romance had become a “fairytale.”
After meeting in their local pub a few days later, Ian was still in love with her that he proposed in a text message to her when she arrived home hours later despite Michelle not acknowledging him. In 2016, the happy couple even finished renovating their three-bedroom home. However, sadly, she requested divorce after six years and what Michelle refers to as an “Eureka moment.”
She claims that Ian and I parted ways during our time together. I ran Michelle’s Baps, provided roadside burgers, and cared for my lovely mother, Betty, who had dementia. But after her passing, my world changed. I was deeply uneasy and in the middle of my menopause.
I had been chasing my dad all my life, but I needed to learn to make myself happy instead of rely on a man, so Ian and I split up. Although my best friend has always been my best friend, I was overcome by grief because I had learned so much about dementia from watching her, so I sold up my burger van and trained again as a carer.
At 5′ 7″ tall and weighing 13 stone 8 pounds, I also realized I had let myself go. I’d consumed takeaways and champagne, which had cost me my health.
I ate less food and ate less fizz, reducing my current 9st 4lbs and size 10 weight. With her new £20, 000-a-year career almost complete and her transition into her pre-60s almost complete. In Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, Michelle decided it was time to settle in and find her forever home. She claims, “I saw the caravan going for £52,000 and bought it.” One of my happiest days of my life was spent there, with the animals and moving in.
You can’t spend 365 days a year at the holiday park, but I’m fortunate to have a room at Steve’s, so I can go there if I ever feel lonely. However, I’m usually relieved to return to my own four walls after a challenging day of caring for the elderly.
“I miss the exotic vacations, and money is tight, too. However, I work for Steve’s burger van to pay for my annual trip to Egypt because I’m a grafter. I purchase all of my clothing from Primark or TikTok and get my favorite lipstick for only £2.
Now Michelle loves nothing more than snuggling up in the caravan after a hard day’s work, but admits she does sometimes find herself giggling that her entire 36ftx12ft home is the same size as her old front room. She says: “I know people must think it’s weird and they must think I’ve had such a downturn in fortune – it’s like rags to riches…and back to rags – but I really don’t see it like that.
If you’re unhappy within yourself and have a man, money doesn’t actually mean anything. I must admit that I’ve divorced five times and married once. “With that said, I don’t regret any of my choices because life has been a rollercoaster and definitely a fun one, even though it’s sad that I turned 60 before realizing what truly makes me happy.
“I look at the tattoos I’ve had done on my arms to remind myself never to forget the important things in life again. One reads, ‘‘Even on my darkest day, I will stand tall and find sunshine”. The other says, ‘Never let your past define your future’. “I live by those mottos. For some, life might be about diamonds. But, for me, I am genuinely happiest sitting on my deck with the dogs leading a simple life.
“Admittedly, I might still enjoy getting my nails done and occasionally enjoying a glass of pink champagne,” I said. “That’s one thing I haven’t quite given up spending money on, and that’s the occasional lottery ticket.”
READ MORE: Man ridicules unclaimed £13.4m lottery win before checking his pockets months later
Source: Mirror
Leave a Reply