London - A couple who scooped a £148 million lottery jackpot have blamed the “stress” of becoming overnight multi-millionaires on their decision to divorce.
But while Adrian and Gillian Bayford claim the huge sum led to the split, there’s also the small matter of a rumoured affair between Mrs Bayford and the couple’s gardener - and accusations that Mr Bayford ran his alleged love rival over with a golf buggy.
Mr Bayford, 43, is now being sued by landscaper Chris Tovey, who claims he was deliberately mowed down in the 200-acre grounds of the pair’s mansion.
Friends also say that while Mrs Bayford revelled in the luxury lifestyle afforded by their EuroMillions win, Mr Bayford struggled to enjoy the high life and had not settled in at the couple’s country estate.
Just 15 months after they scooped the second biggest ever lottery prize, he has left the £6 million Georgian mansion where his wife still lives.
He has moved into a more modest £500 000, four-bedroom home in Haverhill, Suffolk, where the couple originally lived.
Mr Bayford told the Mail last night: “Gillian and I have split.” He denied that there was anyone else involved, saying: “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 Grade-II Cambridgeshire pile became a chore to maintain, he claimed.
“When you win the lottery it’s so stressful,” he said. “I’ve worked so hard on those grounds [at the mansion], I’ve not had a break, we’ve never had time together as a couple. I mean you cannot change what’s happened. It is just something that happened. But we’re great friends, we’re still getting on.” He added: “Things happen. Sometimes in life you have to move on. We’re all happy now and life goes on.”
Friends last night dismissed the rumours over an affair between Mrs Bayford and Mr Tovey, 40, as nonsense.
The golf buggy crash that has left Mr Tovey on crutches seven months on was not deliberate, they claim.
Best friend Richard Hudspith said: “Adrian was driving an off-road vehicle on his private land when the accident occurred in April this year. There were two witnesses who have given testimonies that it was an accident. Chris was injured but he did not suffer a broken leg.”
According to friends, Mr Bayford had never learned to drive and could not enjoy the couple’s new fleet of cars - or even a gulf buggy they bought, which they say he crashed while trying to navigate his grounds.
But Mrs Bayford revelled in the luxury lifestyle afforded by their win - she has had a makeover and slimmed down, and enjoys their fleet of cars, which includes an Audi, a Mercedes and a sporty Mini.
However, a former friend said the win had “changed her” and that she had lost touch many of her old acquaintances. Cindy Smith, 46, said: “She’s definitely changed since she won the money, which is a real shame.”
Mrs Bayford opened a play barn with Mrs Smith in May after the win, but they fell out and it has since closed down and been sold. “I’ve deleted her numbers from my phone,” she said.
Friends of Mr Bayford said he preferred a more humble lifestyle to his wife. Mr Hudspith, who ran a second-hand record shop with Mr Bayford until shortly after the win, said: “Adrian didn’t want to do anything special after winning all that money. “They didn’t want to move abroad and sit in the sun.
“They had the kids to look after.” Colin Richards, who runs a video rental store near Mr Bayford’s old shop, added: “He doesn’t drive, he doesn’t go out, you don’t see him in town. “I know different people like different things, but if I had won it I would have motor cars and all the nice luxuries in life - helicopters and boats. But he doesn’t seem interested in anything like that.
“He could not even drive the golf buggy he had up there, he crashed it.” The couple, who have a daughter aged eight and a six-year-old son, announced their split in a statement from Mrs Bayford that said their marriage has “broken down irretrievably”.
The couple’s win in August last year put them 516th on Britain’s Rich List - but they celebrated with a budget holiday in a Scottish caravan park. Mrs Bayford later said she hoped the windfall would allow the family to spend more time together. The former healthcare assistant at Cambridge’s Addenbrooke’s Hospital said the pair - who married in 2004 - were like “ships in the night” to earn the income the family needed. “This money has come at the right time for us and is going to benefit the whole family,” she said.
Mr Tovey, who lives with his wife in a small terraced house in Haverhill, told the Mail last night: “I’ve got a lot at stake and I’m not willing to comment. They’ve separated, which is news to me, and I played no part in their separation.”
His wife, Teri, added: “He was nothing to do with their marriage.” - Daily Mail