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Couple crowned 'Punching Above Your Weight' champions scoop $1.8m Lotto win


A couple who made headlines all over the world when they famously won a ‘Punching Above Your Weight’ competition have hit the jackpot again with a $1.8 million Lotto win.

Darren Donaghey scooped the award on Metro Radio in 2014 when listeners of the show thought he was punching above his weight with his girlfriend, Kate Donaghey.

Since then, the couple, who hail from Newcastle upon Tyne, have gone on to marry and have two kids together.

A couple who made headlines all over the world when they famously won a ‘Punching Above Your Weight’ competition have hit the jackpot again with a $1.8 million Lotto win. Photo: Getty Images
A couple who made headlines all over the world when they famously won a ‘Punching Above Your Weight’ competition have hit the jackpot again with a $1.8 million Lotto win. Photo: Getty Images

And now they’re in the news again, after winning $1.8m in the National Lottery’s Monopoly Classic scratchcard game.

Darren said he went to the shop to buy a bottle of ‘emergency milk’ when he decided to pick up a Monopoly Classic scratchcard.

The couple now plan on spending their winnings on their six-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, who both have autism.

“We are currently in a two-bedroom house and desperately need more room for the children – now all of our dreams have come true with this win,” Darren said, according to Metro.

“We can move to a new home, which is bigger and with more bedrooms and even create a sensory room for our daughter and son.”

Darren Donaghey scooped the award on Metro Radio in 2014 when listeners of the show thought he was punching above his weight with his girlfriend, Kate Donaghey. Photo: Getty Images
Darren Donaghey scooped the award on Metro Radio in 2014 when listeners of the show thought he was punching above his weight with his girlfriend, Kate Donaghey. Photo: Getty Images
The couple said they will put the money towards their kids’ futures. Photo: Getty Images
The couple said they will put the money towards their kids’ futures. Photo: Getty Images

Back in 2014, Darren entered the ‘Punching Above Your Weight’ competition after admitting that people had been making comments about his relationship with Kate for years.

“For years I’ve had stick about how I managed to woo Kate and it’s not unusual to be out together and other guys to innocently start chatting Kate up, thinking that I couldn’t possibly be with her,” Darren previously told the Chronicle Live.

“Even when we are out shopping at Asda I get these funny looks from blokes and I know what they are thinking.

“Having put up with this for years I knew we had a decent chance of winning.”

Kate added that ‘looks aren’t everything’ and she ‘loves Darren, as most people know’.

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