Louise Bidmead was halfway through making chicken burgers when she discovered she had won
A woman who was midway through preparing a chicken dinner was interrupted to learn she’d scooped £1 million – postponing her partner’s Friday evening pub visit, where he couldn’t reveal the genuine reason for his tardiness as nobody would believe, “Sorry I’m late – my girlfriend’s just become a millionaire.”
Louise Bidmead, 65, from Luton, is the most recent winner of the Omaze Monthly Millionaire Draw, claiming a transformative £1 million prize, entirely tax-free.
Rather than dishing up homemade chicken burgers for tea, Louise received the life-altering announcement and ended up opening a bottle of whisky with her partner of 19 years, Matt Power, 55, after the Omaze team turned up at their residence to disclose her massive win.
Just before Louise learnt about her enormous windfall, Matt was already heading out to join his friends at the local for his usual Friday evening drink, but wound up running late after marking the incredible moment with her.
Louise laughed: “He had a very good reason for being late, but he couldn’t use “Sorry I’m late – Louise has just become a millionaire” as an excuse as no one would’ve believed him in a million years! Things like this just don’t happen to people you actually know, so they’d have all thought he was just winding them up!”.
Her successful entry formed part of a £15 subscription to the Omaze Monthly Millionaire Draw, which she has been participating in for nearly three years. The Omaze Monthly Millionaire Draw takes place every month, ensuring one UK winner walks away with a tax-free £1 million each time.
A thrilled Louise recounted: “I was halfway through cooking my delicious homemade chicken burgers for tea when the phone rang. I nearly didn’t answer because I thought it was probably just another sales call. But I picked up when they rang again. They said it was Omaze and they’d like to pop over as I’ve won a prize. Then there was a knock at the door and suddenly I was being told I’d won a million pounds. It was crazy, I must have said ‘wow’ about a thousand times, I was totally gobsmacked.
“One minute I’m flipping burgers, the next I’m a flipping millionaire! I forgot all about my burgers and we cracked open a bottle of whisky to celebrate, although I only had a small one as it went straight to my head after all the excitement! It’s actually my birthday next week and this is easily the best birthday present I’ve ever had!”.
“Matt had no idea I’d been subscribing to Omaze. I’ve been doing it for almost three years and just never mentioned it, so he was even more shocked than I was! Finding out we’d won was just so surreal.”
Louise has two children from her previous marriage, daughter Elizabeth, 33, and son Joe, 29, who both reside in the Leighton Buzzard area. Neither of them believed Louise when she broke the good news, so she had to show them a video of her winning moment to convince them.
Louise revealed: “When I told my children about the win, they didn’t believe me at first, but when I showed them a video of me finding out, they were so happy for me. They didn’t ask for anything, they just said it’s so lovely that I won’t have any worries now.
“This money will make such a massive difference to all of us. We’ve been looking ahead to my pension coming through next week, as that was going to help ease the pressure a bit. But this has completely changed everything. We can finally whack the heating up without worrying about bills. It feels like we haven’t got a worry in the world anymore.
“Matt isn’t going to retire just yet as I think he’d get bored, but he’ll be able to take more holidays and be more relaxed in general as we won’t be under any financial stress. All he’s asked for is a £20 sub so far!”.
“The first thing I bought was an ice cream machine from Costco, that was top of my list! I didn’t even check the price before I got to the till, it was £144 but that’s just not an issue now.
“I’m so excited that we’ll now be able to go on nicer holidays further away. I’ve had some health issues over the years that meant flying economy long-distance would be very uncomfortable, but now we can afford the extra leg room, so the world is our oyster!”.
“My friend Carol’s birthday is very close to mine, she’s turning 62 and has never been abroad, so we’d just booked a holiday last week, I can now pay for the whole trip, and we’ll be travelling in style!”.
“I can also plan a trip with my little sister to see my eldest sister in Texas. We’ve been talking about that for years. It’s a lot of money getting over to the States, but thanks to Omaze I can afford it now!”.
“My daughter had just bought a second-hand car, so I’ve paid that off and a holiday she’d already booked – and I’ll give my son the equivalent in cash of course, but I joked it comes with the condition he’s got to call his mother more often! In all seriousness, it’s wonderful knowing I can help them at such an important stage in their lives.”
She added: “Of course I enter Omaze as I love the look of the houses, but supporting all the fantastic charities is a massive part as well. I never really thought about the winning part of it, but here I am, a millionaire, it all still feels like a dream.”
Louise, who hails from Middlesex originally, has called Luton home for 40 years and has resided in her current 3-bedroom property for the last 16 years. Prior to retirement she was employed as a teaching assistant for 15 years, whilst her partner Matt has dedicated his entire working life to carpentry.
Entries for the Omaze Million Pound House Draw, Cotswolds, can be obtained now at omaze.co.uk. The Cotswolds House Draw concludes on Sunday 29th March 2026 for online entries and Tuesday 31st March 2026 for postal entries.
In addition to the Grand Prize, anyone submitting an online entry by midnight on Mother’s Day, Sunday 15th March 2026, and Tuesday 17th March 2026 for postal entries, will also have the chance to win an incredible Early Bird Prize: a 1962 Jaguar E-Type valued at over £90,000 plus £100,000 in cash.
Participants can also sign up for top value bundles and automatic inclusion in every monthly House, Early Bird and Omaze Monthly Millionaire Draw.
For complete terms and conditions, visit omaze.co.uk. No purchase is required to participate. Only open to those over 18 and UK residents.
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