Terri overcomes cha-cha-challenges to fulfil her Blackpool Ballroom dream

The 72-year-old from Leicestershire became a ballroom champion with her dance partner Glenn Badham eight years ago. But she considered hanging up her dancing shoes due to the cost of her glamorous hobby.

Fortunately, Lady Luck waltzed into her life in the shape of an incredible Lotto win in January 2021. Ever since that life-changing day, when Terri became one of the thousands of millionaires created since the launch of The National Lottery 30 years ago, she has been “living the dream”.

Since the win, she has bought herself two spectacular ballroom gowns costing more than £2,000 each. The bespoke dresses were made in her favourite colours, pink and electric yellow.

Terri said, “When The Blackpool Tower Ballroom granted me this wish I was, for the first time in my life, totally speechless. I am a National Lottery winner and now I am dancing at the world-famous Tower Ballroom. I feel like I have won the lottery twice!”

It hasn’t all been plain sailing for Terri who has an inherited condition and suffered a mini stroke in 2017. She was subsequently diagnosed with a “life-threatening” heart valve defect and required six hours of open-heart surgery to rectify it.

But three months after her operation, Terri was back on the dancefloor competing. She says ballroom dancing saved her life and keeps her young.

Terri said, “I love to keep myself fit and active, so it was a real shock when I suffered the stroke. The recovery was a long road, but I never gave up hope; I always remained positive and believed that good things would come into my life. And good things certainly did when I matched five main numbers and the Bonus Ball and won my £1MMillion Lotto prize with a Lucky Dip ticket!”

As a huge fan of Strictly Come Dancing, Terri was accustomed to seeing dancers strutting their stuff at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom. But she never imagined she’d get to follow in their footsteps.

Aaron Edgar, Operations Manager at The Blackpool Tower and Tower Ballroom, said, “It was just a delight to see Terri on the dancefloor – we were so thrilled to be able to grant her this very special wish. She is certainly one incredible lady. Who knows, we may even see her in Strictly!”

Recalling the moment she became a National Lottery millionaire, Terri said she and her husband John, 72, were on their way to a hardware shop in search of a new kitchen. On the way they stopped off for petrol and bought a ticket for the Lotto draw on 9th January 2021.

Terri said, “We always buy a Lucky Dip. I remember John saying to me, 'you never know, we might win,' to which I replied ‘Oh, you always say that!’. But we did win and today I feel like a double winner, standing on the iconic floor at The Tower Ballroom and hearing the sound of the world-famous Wurlitzer organ. When it comes to ballroom dancing, it doesn’t get better than Blackpool!”

Terri is an amateur ballroom and Latin dancer and has competed in hundreds of competitions. She met her dance partner and trainer, Glenn Badham after attending one of his ballroom dance classes in 2014.

Terri still dances twice a week and has already signed up for another competition. She said, “You are the energy you feel, not your age – and I feel about 21! Dancing and keeping fit is everything to me and I have no plans to give up anytime soon. Hopefully I will be gracing The Blackpool Tower ballroom floor when I am 100!”

This November marks The National Lottery’s 30th anniversary. Since its launch in 1994, it has made more than 7,200 millionaires or multi-millionaires. On average, seven millionaires are made every week.

By playing any National Lottery game, you help generate £30MMillion each week for National Lottery-funded projects. More than 690,000 grants have been made across the UK to projects ranging from local charities to the facilities supporting our Olympic and Paralympic heroes.

11th October 2024