“I’m on top of the world right now,” says Heart listener after £1m win!
Heart listener Shelley Humphries became Britain’s newest millionaire live on Heart Breakfast with Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden this morning, when she won a life-changing £1,000,000 in Heart’s Make Me A Millionaire competition.
Burger van owner and mum of five, Shelly from Northampton took home the grand prize after originally turning down £10,000 for the chance to be in the draw – one of the biggest prize funds to be turned down by any finalist.
Speaking about her win, Shelley Humphries said: “I’m on top of the world right now, it’s so surreal. To win £1million means so much to me, it will make such a difference to my life and it’ll open up so many opportunities for me and my family. It means I’ll be able to say yes to my children more often.”
Shelly says she’s going to donate to Great Ormond Street because its so special to her as they saved her dad’s life in 2013 with open heart surgery and have treated her nieces since they were tiny babies. “I have two nieces that they helped at a very, very young age, at six weeks old both of them… I nearly lost my dad … and I just can’t thank them enough and being able to say thank you to them is a first and a must,” she told Jamie and Amanda.
A big win also means that Shelly can hopefully have a family holiday, she says: “I’ve never had all my children with me together on one holiday before and so I’m hoping to be able to go on a family holiday to Portugal. I’d also like to upgrade my burger van – I’d love one with a bit of heating in or maybe even a café where you can have the heating on permanently!”
We have a winner! Watch the incredible moment Shelley wins a life changing £1,000,000 in Heart’s Make Me A Millionaire! ? pic.twitter.com/19T1AISR6t
— Heart (@thisisheart) May 28, 2021
Heart’s Make Me a Millionaire launched on 1 March and over the past three months each winner has faced an ultimatum – to take that day’s prize fund or forgo the money to enter into the Million Pound Final for the chance to win £1million.
The dramatic live final took place in a specially constructed vault live on Heart Breakfast this morning and began with 38 contestants in the running to win the life-changing sum. Some finalists had turned down cash prizes of up to £13,000 for the chance to be in the Million Pound Final.
Amanda Holden and Jamie Theakston dressed up in celebration of the occasion, with Amanda wearing a spectacular red jewel encrusted dress and Jamie donning a matching bow tie.
Jamie said: “This morning was very special on Heart Breakfast as we crowned the winner of Heart’s Make Me a Millionaire. It was a great honour to share this life-changing moment with Shelley. Make Me a Millionaire is the biggest competition in UK radio and the suspense and drama that we’ve witnessed over the past 13 weeks has captivated listeners. We’d like to thank everyone who took part and we send huge congratulations to Shelley.”
Amanda Holden added: “We are so thrilled for our wonderful winner Shelley. It truly has been the most incredible and emotional morning on Heart Breakfast, and it was our great privilege to crown Shelley as our very worthy winner. All of us at Heart send all our best wishes and many congratulations to Shelley and her family.”