1998 Lotto Winner Of £7.5million Jackpot Who Lost It All - But Insisted He Has Been Happy.

1998 Lotto Winner Of £7.5Million Jackpot Who Lost It All - But Insisted He Has Been Happy

Roy Gibney, 64, a former sheet metal worker, scooped his millions in July 1998, and immediately splashed out on a six-bedroom mansion in Barnoldby-le-Beck, Lincolnshire.

Roy Gibney who spent his £7.5million jackpot on a 25-acre mansion, complete with fishing lake and swimming pool, is now living in a semi-detached home in Grimsby - but insisted he has never been happier. 

He had his winning numbers tiled on the bottom of an indoor swimming pool, spent £50,000 on a racehorse and bought expensive cars - but his good fortune then came to an end with his divorce from second wife Darlene Shand, 45, in 2014. 

He said the decision to tile his winning lottery numbers - 12, 13, 21, 23, 33 and 36 - on the bottom of the pool was after a suggestion from the builders. 

With his property portfolio sold off and most of his remaining money swallowed up by his divorce, Mr Gibney moved in to a one-bedroom bungalow which he previously bought for his mother. 

And he has found love again with Tracey Baker, 58, who he previously dated, and the pair are renovating a £300,000 five-bedroom home in the town. 

Despite his dramatic change in fortunes, Mr Gibney insisted he has never been happier. 

He told The Sun: 'I've lost money, I've been fleeced and now I'm down to tens of thousands in the bank. That mound of money is dwindling all of the time.

'I'm living a more modest lifestyle, it's calmer, more normal and I'm blissfully happy.'

Mr Gibney, a father-of-three, warned that money cannot buy happiness, that winning the lottery does not mean you 'become automatically happy overnight.' 

But he said he now has more than he ever did because he 'has found love'. 

However, he saw things differently when he won the lottery while living alone in a £40,000 two-bed home. 

After selling his car to a friend for £1, he bought a red Lexus LS300 - which he still owns - and his mansion, before spending £500,000 adding the pool, a bar, a snooker table and roulette table. 

'They suggested Roy Gibney, the date and my numbers. I said "slap it in",' he said. 

In the divorce from Ms Shand, Mr Gibney kept a £500,000 Cyprus holiday home, while his former wife got a £350,000 home in Scotland, a car, caravan and £50,000.

On his return to Grimsby, Mr Gibney rekindled his romance with teaching assistant Ms Baker, who had dated in 2004. 

She said: 'He's still the same person, he used to hide himself away because he felt like the world was against him. But now he's happy and he enjoys life.' 

Despite his insistence that money does not bring happiness, Mr Gibney still plays the lottery each week, using the same numbers, and is 'certain' he will win it again.