A couple who scooped a £148 million (R2.4 billion) lottery jackpot have blamed the “stress” of becoming overnight multimillionaires on their decision to divorce.
But while Adrian and Gillian Bayford claim the huge sum led to the split, there is also the small matter of a rumoured affair between Mrs Bayford and the couple’s gardener – and accusations that Mr Bayford deliberately ran over his alleged love rival with a golf buggy. He is being sued by landscaper Chris Tovey.
Friends said while she revelled in the luxury lifestyle afforded by the EuroMillions win, he struggled to enjoy the high life and had not settled in at their country estate; 15 months after they scooped the second-biggest lottery prize on record, he has left the £6m Georgian mansion where his wife still lives.
He has moved into a more modest £500 000, four-bedroom home in Haverhill, Suffolk – the area where they originally lived.
Bayford said: “Gillian and I have split.” He denied anyone else was involved: “There’s never been anything like that at all.”
Instead, the stress of managing their fortune meant they had not spent time together – and their Cambridgeshire pile became a chore to maintain, he claimed. “When you win the lottery it’s so stressful. I’ve worked so hard on those grounds, I’ve not had a break, we’ve never had time together as a couple. We’re great friends, we’re still getting on.”
Friends dismissed rumours of an affair as nonsense. – Daily Mail