Video: Mr Rich finally becomes rich in name and rich in nature

The couple made a last minute decision to buy a Lotto ticket online just before the draw. Robert said, "I bought our Lucky Dip lines shortly before the draw closed and only because all day I'd been daydreaming about being a millionaire. It's not a thought I often had before and it seems really silly to be saying that now but it's the honest truth. Never in all my days did I think the daydreaming would end and we actually would be millionaires!"

With the couples tickets bought online they settled down to a quiet evening in and the following day headed into Southampton to do a little bit of shopping, totally unaware of the life-changing email in their inbox. Robert said:

"We headed into town for a few bits for a DIY project so didn't look at the emails until later on and when I saw there was one from The National Lottery I assumed we had a £25 win or something like that.

When the email arrived the next day to tell Robert he had won it took a while to realise he was the winner. "I read the message and clicked on the website where £2,012,794 flashed up, I remember thinking, ‘wow, some lucky person is going to be happy with that’! not realising that we were that lucky someone!"

Tears

When Robert finally grasped that they had won the Lotto jackpot he promptly burst into tears and was so flustered making the call to verify the win that Mandy, his partner of 21 years, had to take over.

The couple celebrated their new found millionaire status by keeping their feet firmly on the ground. "The first purchase we made as multimillionaires was a 99p tube of decorators filler and we celebrated with a takeaway meal."

Bigger plans post win involve Roberts's retirement. "I've worked hard all my life. I was a commercial fisherman and more recently a lorry driver so I really know the meaning of hard work. Getting a lucky break like this means I can take things a bit easier now, spend more time with the family and really plan for a very bright future for us all."

Although Robert and Mandy are putting their family's needs first, Robert will be finally following a dream he has held since he was a ten year old boy growing up near to the airport in Eastleigh. Robert commented, "I am an avid plane enthusiast and spend hours watching and recording planes all over the country. I've occasionally been able to travel abroad for my hobby but with a young family these trips have been few and far between. Now I can finally take the whole family on exciting holidays – by plane, naturally – and also take my private pilot license something that before was quite simply, a pie in the sky dream."