'I won £1,000,000 on Heart and this is exactly what I'm going to do with the money'

10 May 2024, 11:25

Samantha Hayes couldn't believe her luck when she won £1,000,000.

Samantha Hayes, 38, from Colchester, Essex, was over the moon when she took part in a competition that saw her win a massive £1,000,000.

The chiropractor entered Heart's Make Me A Millionaire competition, which offers listeners a chance to bag the biggest cash prize in UK radio.

Upon making it to the grand final alongside nine other competitors, Samantha was the lucky winner who successfully secured the one million pound prize.

• Catch-up on the Heart Make Me A Millionaire final on Global Player, the official Heart app

With this life changing money heading straight into her bank account, Samantha has plenty of ideas on how she is going to spend the money.

Mother to two-year-old Albert, Samantha and her husband, Alex, are looking to expand their family. Now with one million pounds in the bank, she spoke about how the money will help their growing family.

Samantha revealed: "I want to try for another baby, we were going to do it anyway but this just makes it so much easier."

Watch the moment Samantha Hayes became a Millionaire here:

Watch the moment Samantha Hayes becomes a Millionaire

But this isn't the end of their plans as the couple are having a bumper year filled with birthdays, weddings and holidays.

After tying the knot with her Alex just two weeks ago, the newlyweds are planning on spending a chunk of their winnings on the honeymoon of a lifetime. This will be the couple's first holiday in four years so they want to make it extra special and mark the occasion in style.

There's also a very exciting birthday coming up as Alex is turning 40 in a few months. The couple are looking to celebrate this milestone with a massive party, and an extra special present, with Samantha commenting: "I promised him a Rolex."

When asked how she felt about winning the jackpot, Samantha tearily revealed: "In all honesty I just can’t process it. I just can’t believe this is actually a real thing.

"It’s very surreal my heart is just thumping so hard, my brain it just, it feels like mush."

The mother-of-one also opened up about the recent death of her father, telling Heart Breakfast hosts Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston that she felt his presence during the competition.

Samantha explained: "Sadly I lost my dad and he was with me. Just felt like his hand was on my shoulder being like ‘go for it Sam, that’s the one.'"

The Millionaire also revealed that she hadn't told her mum she was entering the competition and couldn't wait to tell her the emotional news.

Samantha added: "I actually haven’t told my mum that I’m on the radio and I’m not quite sure how she’s going to react.

"She had our little son Albert last night, it was his first night away from home and I just told her I’d won a competition to go and stay in a lovely hotel in London and we were going to have a date night. She was like ‘yeah that’s great’.

"I was planning on tell her today just because I didn’t want to get too nervous, well I was nervous anyway, but now I actually need to go home and tell her that I’ve just won £1,000,000."

• Listen live and catch-up on Global Player
• Listen on DAB, FM and smart speaker