Teenager missed out on £178m EuroMillions jackpot when ALL of her numbers were out by ONE digit 

A teenager missed out on the chance of joining Britain’s biggest EuroMillions winners when all the numbers on her ticket were just one digit away from the winning numbers.

Marketing apprentice Tayla Octave, 19, from south east London, purchased a lucky dip ticket for last Friday’s mega draw but could not believe her bad luck at missing the winning numbers by one digit across the board.

Tayla bought three entries for the draw on February 19, with one row of numbers – 5, 13, 24, 45, 49, with Lucky Stars 6 and 11 – leaving her agonisingly close to scooping the jackpot, the Sun reports.

Marketing apprentice Tayla Octave, 19, from south east London, purchased a lucky dip ticket for last Friday’s mega EuroMillions draw but could not believe her bad luck at missing every single winning number by just one digit

Speaking to the paper, Tayla said: ‘I’m just gutted. It’s a long shot to win the lottery anyway but to be so close is heart-breaking.

‘At first I just saw I hadn’t won anything but then I went through and compared them side by side and that’s when I realised that every single number I had was just one away from the winning ones.

‘That sort of money would be life changing and I started to think about what I would have done with it all.’

The 19-year-old said the first thing she would have done had she won the EuroMillions jackpot would have been to go on holiday to the Maldives and stay in an oceanside villa. 

Tayla also said she would have used her winnings to buy a house for all three of her older sisters as well as her mother. 

How unlucky can you be? Every single number on Tayla's ticket were just one digit away from last Friday's winning EuroMillions numbers

How unlucky can you be? Every single number on Tayla’s ticket were just one digit away from last Friday’s winning EuroMillions numbers

Tayla only started her apprenticeship six months ago after leaving school, but she said she would have quit her job had she won the £178million prize to help solve homelessness in London. 

Having only started playing the EuroMillions a few weeks ago, Tayla and her sister Lauren, 24, tried their luck on Friday’s huge jackpot.

The pair first entered the competition during the coronavirus lockdown as something to do to pass the time – though had not won anything before coming painfully close to scooping the jackpot.

Despite not winning the grand prize, Tayla did win £2.80 after matching two numbers on another of her entries. 

Andy Carter, Camelot’s senior winners’ advisor said his only advice for any would-be EuroMillions winners is to ‘keep trying’. 

Colin Weir (right) and his wife Christine (left) of Largs, North Ayrshire, became the biggest named winners when they scooped £161.6million in July 2011 [File photo]

Colin Weir (right) and his wife Christine (left) of Largs, North Ayrshire, became the biggest named winners when they scooped £161.6million in July 2011 [File photo]

Dr Marton Balazs, Associate Professor in Probability at Bristol University, said that the likelihood of Tayla having been one digit away from every winning number was one in 1,092,486 – which is larger than the odds of winning the jackpot.

While no-one scooped the top prize on Friday, nine people matched the five main numbers and one Lucky Star to win £123,284.80 each. 

The jackpot was also not picked up by anyone in tonight’s rollover draw, meaning the £180million prize is up for grabs again on Friday. 

The current grand prize sits at £180million, which would someone the chance to become wealthier than a rock legend, such as guitarist Eric Clapton, who is worth £175million.  

If someone in the UK scoops the £180 million rollover jackpot in Friday’s draw, it would make them Britain’s biggest lottery winner.

Frances Connolly, 54,(pictured) and her husband Patrick extended their generosity to around £60 million since their £114.9million win on New Year's Day in 2019

Frances Connolly, 54,(pictured) and her husband Patrick extended their generosity to around £60 million since their £114.9million win on New Year’s Day in 2019

Tonight’s winning EuroMillions numbers 

The winning numbers from tonight’s EuroMillions draw are:

30, 09, 39, 18, 45.

The Lucky Stars are: 03, 01.

Tonight’s estimated jackpot was £180 million.

The top prize would beat the current record of £170 million won by an anonymous UK winner in 2019.

Colin Weir and his wife Christine of Largs, North Ayrshire, became the biggest named winners when they scooped £161.6million in July 2011. 

Last year, Frances Connolly, 54, winner of a £114.9million Euromillions jackpot in 2019 has revealed she had already given away half of her winnings to help those in need.

Frances and her husband Patrick, 56, who live in the north-east of England, won their enormous prize on New Year’s Day in 2019. 

The first thing Frances did after her win was to create a list of the 50 friends and family that she wanted to help thanks to her new-found wealth. 

However, their charity extended beyond those they held dearest, with the pair having set up two charities as well as helping some of the most vulnerable and in-need people in their area.