UK National Lottery: Bus driver wins £2m lottery jackpot three months after divorce
It was an amicable divorce and Helen Halstead was happy to wish her former husband the very best of luck for the future.
She couldn't have imagined how quickly that wish would be fulfilled.
Just weeks after their split, bus driver Kevin Halstead won £2.3 million (US$3.5 million) playing the Lottery.
His ex-wife is now coming to terms with the fact that, but for the divorce, Mr. Halstead might have been legally obliged to share his windfall with her.
Instead, she is making do with her own bit of luck. As her ex was checking off his winning numbers, she won £5 on a scratchcard. Mr. Halstead, 46, who shared last Saturday's £4.6 million jackpot with one other ticket-holder, revealed how the couple married in 1994, only to split three years later.
Despite moving in with new partners, they remained husband and wife in name only for the sake of their daughter Jessica, 14.
They finally decided to complete the paperwork to make their break-up official three months ago. Yesterday, Mr. Halstead, from Preston, opened a bottle of champagne with partner Josie Jones, 43, a care worker, in front of a Stagecoach bus with ' Congratulations Kevin!' displayed instead of the destination.
He said he planned to continue driving the Preston-Bolton bus, which he has done for the past 17 years — after a few weeks off.
"I don't want to cut myself off from my friends and I really enjoy my job," Halstead said. "Maybe I will go part-time."
He revealed that he and Miss Jones — herself a divorced mother of four — plan to swap their rented terrace home for a mansion nearer his mother Joyce.
An avid Liverpool FC fan, he also hopes to splash out on a season ticket at Anfield and take Miss Jones — who has never been abroad — on a foreign holiday.
He insisted he and his ex-wife remain on good terms and hinted he might give her some of his £2,302,668 win.
"This win will help my friends out and she is still my friend," he said. "We divorced three months ago and split up about 13 years ago but we stayed friends — we did not get a divorce back then for the sake of our Jessica.
"We maintained being friends and stayed in contact every week. There is no bitterness. I know lots of marriages go through very bitter break-ups but ours didn't."
He also revealed that a Mrs. Halstead could soon be sharing his winnings after all. "Josie and I have both been married before and we are quite happy as it is — but who knows?" he said.
Last night, his former wife, 43, was putting on a brave face. She has already invited Mr. Halstead and Miss Jones for a celebratory cup of tea at her modest detached, three-bedroomed house in Coppull, Lancashire.
"It's fantastic and I'm made up for them," she said. "It really couldn't have happened to a nicer couple.
"I've not heard anything about whether he'll give me any money. That's up to him I suppose. I'm just over the moon for him. It's great news and he deserves every penny."
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