Lottery millionaire taxi driver quits, feels guilty charging passengers after winning EuroMillions £1 million jackpot
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A former taxi driver from Arnold, Nottingham, picked up the best fare of his life after scooping the £1,000,000 EuroMillions Millionaire Maker prize in the 2016 draw.
But Gordon Rees didn’t want his life to alter after the life-changing win, so he continued working as a cab driver.
"I worked through until my 64th birthday," says Gordon. "I’ve always enjoyed driving, they were a great bunch of lads at the company I worked for. I always enjoyed the banter and everything like that,” he told NottinghamshireLive.
EuroMillions winner Gordon Rees with his family at the draw in 2016. PHOTO: UK National Lottery
Though he worked for a year after his giant win, the 66-year-old eventually took early retirement when the guilt of charging fares became too much.
He said: "I came to the conclusion that with all that money in my pocket, I couldn’t bear to take any money off my customers, so I decided to finish."
Former cab driver and EuroMillions winner Gordon Rees says he has no money worries now.
"I’m living the life now," he says. "It enabled me to retire a year early and obviously I've no money worries, I have my own house, I bought my car and I've been on a couple of nice holidays... and treated the kids."
Before becoming a millionaire, Gordon had recently split from his long-term partner.
Gordon Rees also plays poker and dominoes but his taxi days are over. PHOTO: Dan Westwell
He had also lost his family home and was living in a two bed flat on a council estate in Arnold.
Then he asked for two lucky dips for the 21 June game and one of them turned out to be a winning ticket.
"It was just a lucky dip and I’ve done lucky dips ever since. I still play the lottery now."
READ MORE: NottinghamshireLive
ABOUT: UK Millionaire Maker
The EuroMillions UK Millionaire Maker guarantees that at least one player in the UK will win £1 million in every EuroMillions draw. As the two games are played separately, it is possible to win a prize in both the main EuroMillions game and Millionaire Maker.
