A bar manager has said he was “gobsmacked” after winning a £4 million country house which is like “something out of Saltburn”.
Paul Knight, 47, from Reading in Berkshire, is now the owner of a six-bedroom property with regal heritage in Bath, dating back to the mid-1500s, after entering the Omaze Million Pound House Draw.
The property was part of the estate of Sir John Harington, who was the godson of Elizabeth I and also the inventor of the flush toilet.
Coincidentally, Mr Knight said he was scrolling on his phone during a toilet break when Omaze contacted him.
“When I got a message from Omaze, I was actually sitting on the toilet at work reading about a lost lottery ticket thinking that it would be just my luck,” he said.
“But how wrong was I!
“As I was at work, I had to take an early break to nip out and meet the Omaze team to find out exactly what I’d won – but it was well worth skiving off for an hour!
“I knew something was up when I saw all the cameras – I thought ‘they’re not rolling this out for a £10 gift voucher, are they?’. When they revealed I’d won a £4 million country house, I was just utterly gobsmacked!”
Despite just becoming a millionaire Mr Knight had to return to finish his shift.
“It was all so crazy – but I didn’t have to let it compute as I had to rush back to work straight afterwards,” he said.
“I was very tempted to say drinks are literally on the house when I got back, but it was all so surreal I just told one colleague and cracked on with my shift as if nothing had happened!”
Mr Knight has been working in bars since he was 18 years old and is currently managing a bar in Reading.
His partner of nearly 12 years, Justin Snowdon, 36, works as an airline cabin crew member.
He added: “My partner Justin is a flight attendant, so he came back late from New York Friday night.
“I woke up very early, which is rare for me, to tell him the good news.
“He couldn’t comprehend it and said it must be the jet-lag kicking in and he’s hallucinating.”
The house comes mortgage-free, with all stamp duty and legal fees covered. He also gets £250,000 in cash to help him settle in.
If Mr Knight decides to keep the property, it is estimated that the £250,000 would enable him to run the house for almost 10 years.
If he decides to rent it out, local estate agents estimate that the property could achieve a long-term rental value of between £10,000 to £12,000 per month.
Mr Knight said the property reminded him of the stately home used in the 2023 thriller Saltburn starring Jacob Elordi and Barry Keoghan.
“The house is absolutely stunning! We’ve been joking it’s like something out of Saltburn, although we won’t be running around naked anytime soon,” he said.
He said the win also means that the couple can finally start a family and look into adoption options.
“We’ve been thinking about adoption for a few years now, it hasn’t been possible before due to our work commitments and needing to meet certain financial criteria, but this win means we can finally look into starting a family and adopting a child, it’s all very exciting,” he said.
The couple currently live in Reading with their two cats called Frida and Diego.
