Lottery Player Clears Debt With Jackpot As Lotto Brings Back ‘It Could Be You’ Ad

Terry Billings, 46, from Hertfordshire, landed a £100,000 ($135,000) lottery jackpot after praying to his late mother. Billings had racked up credit card debt, but continued to play the lottery in the hope his prayers would be answered.

In an interview with the Cambridge News, he said: “Over the past year or so, my self-employed work was quite sporadic, and I got into debt with credit cards. It was close to £14,000 – it had built and built.”

He then prayed to his late mother, who died in 2020 from bladder cancer. He added: “The week before the lottery win, I looked up to the sky and I told her how much I missed her and my struggles with debt. Two days later, I got the email to say I’d netted £100k.”

Mother’s Dying Wish Was To Keep Playing

Billings had previously played the lottery with his brother and mother. After passing away in 2020, he said: “My mum’s dying wish was for me to carry on playing her numbers. I set up a direct debit with the Health Lottery because of the charitable causes.”

The family had started playing the health lottery after his mother was diagnosed with cancer. Despite falling into debt, he continued playing and, in the end, reaped rewards.

Jackpot Winners Star In Return of ‘It Could Be You’ Ad

The UK has also this week relaunched its ‘It Could Be You’ ad to promote the National Lottery. Allwyn UK took over the running of the lottery last year and announced on Monday the launch of the campaign.

Steve Parkinson, Brand & Marketing Director at Allwyn UK, said: “The original tagline ‘It Could Be You’ has always struck a chord with our players and it has never left us.”

Since the original ad aired in 1994, the National Lottery has created over 3,500 millionaires. The new ad, seen below, features three lottery winners who each won over £3 million, including Gary MacDonald, who won over £5 million ($6.7 million) in April this year.

MacDonald commented on how his life has changed since the win: “I seem to have become a lucky mascot for other people. They keep rubbing me for luck or shaking my hand. I even got rubbed in the doctor’s surgery last week. I’m gradually getting used to it!”

He added: “I was just a regular delivery driver a few months back and now I am in an advertisement! It’s mad!”

In a press release announcing the new ad, Allwyn stated, “The campaign supports a study of more than 2,500 people by The National Lottery that Britons would like more hope in their lives and that we are, at heart, a nation of believers.”