Rochdale joiner thought he’d won £2.30 on EuroMillions. It was £58 million

Ryan Hoyle checked his emails at 6am on Saturday 18 April 2020. There was one from The National Lottery.

He thought he’d won £2.30. Then he logged in to his account.

The 38-year-old self-employed joiner from near Rochdale had won £58,366,487 on EuroMillions.

His lockdown EuroMillions ticket, bought online

Ryan normally bought his tickets in a shop. During the 2020 lockdown he’d started playing online instead, and that’s how he played the draw on Friday 17 April 2020.

The winning numbers were 16, 28, 32, 37 and 45, with Lucky Stars 1 and 11. His was the only ticket to match them all. The win put him 20th on The National Lottery’s millionaire rich list at the time.

Checking the win through his parents’ window

When he first logged in, Ryan couldn’t work out what he was looking at. So he rang his mum and dad. They thought he’d locked himself out.

He got in his works van and drove round. Lockdown rules meant he couldn’t go inside, so he passed his phone through the window. His parents checked his numbers against another website to be sure. It was real.

He got in touch with The National Lottery less than 24 hours after the draw.

Retirement for his parents and a beer with his brothers

His mum worked as a cleaner at the local school and his dad worked in a factory. Ryan planned to help them both retire, and said his dad could stop work by the end of that week.

That Saturday afternoon he celebrated by drinking beer with his brothers. They stayed more than two metres apart.

What he planned to do with £58 million

Ryan was renting a one-bed flat when he won, and he planned to build a house of his own. “You don’t need a swimming pool in Greater Manchester,” he said, “it’s not hot enough.”

Here’s what else he planned to do with the money.

• Finish refurbishing his brother’s house, a job he’d already started.
• Take his 11-year-old daughter to Florida for the waterparks and Disneyland.
• Buy a new car. He hadn’t driven a car in more than five years, only his white works van.
• Get a Manchester United season ticket.

He said his priority was looking after his family.

Where is Ryan Hoyle now?

We couldn’t find any interview with Ryan since the win was announced in April 2020. If you’re wondering what UK lottery millionaires usually do with the money, our guide to how winners spend lottery winnings has the survey numbers.

Log in to check what an email win is worth

Ryan thought his email meant £2.30 until he logged in. If you play online, log in to your account to see what you’ve won, and check the numbers against the EuroMillions results for that draw. Our guide to what happens when you win the lottery covers the next steps.