Euromillions lottery winner who built himself a lockdown luxury home after scooping £40m jackpot splits from interior designer girlfriend
- EXCLUSIVE: Euromillions winner who built lockdown home splits from girlfriend
- Gareth Bull, 52, was with Victoria Melling, 47, after split from wife and £40.6m win
A Euromillions lottery winner who told this week how he had built himself a luxury home during lockdown has split from his interior designer girlfriend.
Former self-employed builder Gareth Bull, 52, has found love again with Victoria Melling, 47, after splitting from his wife Catherine just five years after they scooped £40.6million.
But Victoria told MailOnline today that she had now parted from Gareth after helping him to build and fit out his dream home in Nottinghamshire and a villa in Tenerife.
The couple are thought to have been in a relationship for around two years or more and enjoyed holidays together in up-market hotels around the world.
Victoria, who has an eight-year-old son, had expressed her love for father-of-two Gareth in social media posts, describing him as her ‘knight in shining armour’.
Euromillions lottery winner and former self-employed builder Gareth Bull (left), 52, had found love again with Victoria Melling (right), 47, after splitting from his wife Catherine just five years after they scooped £40.6 million.
Victoria told MailOnline today that she had now parted from Gareth after helping him to build and fit out his dream home in Nottinghamshire and a villa in Tenerife
Victoria (left) who has an eight-year-old son had expressed her love for father-of-two Gareth (right) in social media posts, describing him as her ‘knight in shining armour’
Gareth proudly posed for pictures this week in his new 6,000 sq foot home, complete with an artificial lake filled with rehomed fish, an accompanying lodge and floating fireplaces
Gareth proudly posed for pictures this week in his new 6,000 sq foot home, complete with an artificial lake filled with rehomed fish, an accompanying lodge and floating fireplaces.
READ MORE: I built my dream lotto home during lockdown: EuroMillions bricklayer who scooped £40m jackpot reveals how he built his own luxury 6,000 sq ft house complete with an artificial lake, lodge and floating fireplaces
The stunning four bedroom house also has a swimming pool with programmable waves, a sound system built into the ceilings, three bars and two hot tubs.
Victoria, who has an interior design shop in Mansfield called Furnish Your Interior, confessed that she and Gareth had split after MailOnline asked if she leant ‘a bit of a hand in helping’ design his house.
She said today: ‘I did design his house and I helped designed his villa in Tenerife, but we are no longer together.’
Asked if she had ever moved into the new house with Gareth, she said: ‘I stayed there a lot, but I never moved in.’
When asked how things were between them now, Victoria replied: ‘I have honestly got no comment. I have got to go.’
The couple appeared to be loved-up in June this year when Victoria posted a series of pictures of them together on a romantic break in Malta.
The images included a picture of their bed at the island’s Grand Hotel, covered with welcoming red rose petals and towels formed into the shape of two swans creating a love heart with the message: ‘Welcome Victoria and Gareth’.
Victoria accompanied her picture with a post, saying: ‘Well what can we say. We have once again been treated by our friends in Malta like a prince and princess (king and queen sound too old).
‘Thank you for an incredible time once again, the food, the laughter, the sightseeing, the boat. We love every single one of you and feel very lucky to have you in our lives xxx’.
Another post in January this year, showed the couple enjoying a trip to London where they saw a performance by comic Peter Kay at the O2 and Gareth’s favourite team Manchester United lose to Arsenal.
She wrote: ‘Another wonderful weekend with this one in London Town xxxx. Peter Kay was amazing with some great company … result not the best today (hench (sic) sad face on the photo) but it was great being in the away stand xxxx Gareth Bull.’
On February 15 this year, she posted: ‘Perfect Valentine’s Day with this one xxxx love you Gareth Bull xxxx’.
In a post marking Gareth’s birthday in May last year, she wrote: ‘Happy birthday my knight in shining armour xxxx love you … love making our memories together xxxx.’
A later post added: ‘The memories we are making and the laughs we have are priceless, looking forward to many more. Happy Birthday to You, can’t wait to celebrate with you xxxx love you lots.’
Gareth and former wife Catherine originally won the EuroMillions jackpot of £40,627,241 in January 2012.
Mr Bull had bought the winning ticket on a whim after he was unable to work one day because it was raining.
He only realised the following morning that they had hit the jackpot, but he and his wife carried on with their weekend plans as normal, taking their boys to play in football matches and hosting a birthday sleepover.
The couple said at the time that their younger son would tell them off for buying lottery tickets, calling them ‘a waste of money’.
Tenerife bar manager Donna Desporte then said she had a nine-month relationship after he met her on a stag holiday on the sunshine island in 2016.
Mother-of-four Donna claimed that he whisked her off her feet after using the chat-up line, ‘Google me’, telling her that he and his wife were on a trial separation.
Gareth (left) and former wife Catherine (right) originally won the EuroMillions jackpot of £40,627,241 in January 2012
Gareth told this week started work on his dream home in 2019 and completed his project as Britain was plunged into lockdown during the Covid pandemic
He did not mention Victoria’s alleged input when he discussed his new home, saying: ‘The house is extra special because I did so much of the work myself, and during the pandemic too’
Mr Bull helped dig out foundations and complete brickwork as the house began taking shape, but the construction was threatened by lockdown in March 2020
He is said to have spent thousands of pounds taking his mistress on expensive trips and to star-studded events including a night out at the BAFTAs.
Catherine is said to have only discovered their relationship after seeing them in the background of a televised Anthony Joshua boxing match.
It was revealed in April 2017 that Gareth had moved out of his family home in Mansfield, while Catherine was continuing to live there with their two teenage sons.
Gareth won a High Court legal battle in 2017, banning Donna, then 48, from publishing parts of her memoir about their steamy affair called, ‘Google Me – No Lies: The Incredible True Heartbreaking Amazing Story Of A Survivor!’
A lawyer acting for the former builder claimed the book gave detailed descriptions of the couple’s sexual relationship, as well as ‘private information’ relating to his wife, children and health.
His legal team successfully argued that the parts of the book were ‘highly sensitive’ and amounted to ‘several pages of soft core pornography’.
Gareth later won an extended civil restraint order against Donna in 2021, banning her from bringing court actions against him.
The High Court heard how she had lodged a string of claims in the courts which had caused him ‘needless confusion, anxiety and distress’.
Gareth told this week started work on his dream home in 2019 and completed his project as Britain was plunged into lockdown during the Covid pandemic.
He did not mention Victoria’s alleged input when he discussed his new home, saying: ‘The house is extra special because I did so much of the work myself, and during the pandemic too.
‘It helped me through lockdown, and I don’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had this to work on. It was the perfect distraction with a great reward at the end of it.’
During construction, he said he ‘decided to dig a small pond outside the house’, which he expanded until it became an L-shaped ‘fishing lake, the size of two tennis courts’.
He added: ‘I called it “Lockdown Lake”, made a little sign with its name on it and invited anyone who needed to rehome their fish to bring them here.
‘Now, I have a couple of hundred fish, mainly goldfish and 10 koi carp and I call it my ‘fish orphanage’ because they’ve all been rehomed.’
He also constructed a so-called ‘Lockdown Lodge’ alongside the house, complete with two bedrooms, a bathroom and a fully functioning kitchen.
Gareth bought the two-acre site of his home when there was a three-bedroom bungalow on the site in December 2018 and began work on it six months later.
He said: ‘Once I got the green light to go ahead, I started digging and just didn’t stop.
‘The original bungalow sat on open land, so I knocked down half and lived in the remaining rooms so I could be on site and guard our tools.
‘When the rest of the bungalow had to be knocked down, I moved into a caravan on the building site – much to the amusement of my friends.’
Gareth said: ‘I called it ‘Lockdown Lake’, made a little sign with its name on it and invited anyone who needed to rehome their fish to bring them here’
Gareth bought the two-acre site of his home when there was a three-bedroom bungalow on the site in December 2018 and began work on it six months later
Mr Bull helped dig out foundations and complete brickwork as the house began taking shape, but the construction was threatened by lockdown in March 2020.
He said: ‘I was living here on my own at the time, and I didn’t know what to do, so I threw myself into work on the home, and it saved me from getting too lonely.
‘Lockdown rules allowed building sites to keep going, so eventually some of my builder friends came to help me, but this turned into my ultimate lockdown project.’
Mr Bull said one of his favourite features of the main house was a remote-controlled system which runs my lights, curtains, music and ceiling speakers all from my phone’.
He added: ‘Meanwhile an 8ft projector screen pulls down from the ceiling so I can watch sport with my friends.
‘I installed two hot tubs – one by the house and a second log-burning hot tub from Scandinavia outside the lodge.’
After more than a year-and-a-half of construction, he moved into his house on Christmas Eve 2020.
‘I had a massive 7ft Christmas tree. I wanted everything to be perfect when I moved in and it was,’ he said.
Gareth has not responded to a request to comment about his break-up with Victoria.
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