Lotto winner back to day job after he blows £2.8m win

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The 58-year-old was today unrepentant over a series of deals that has wiped out his £2.8 million winnings.

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58-year-old Michael Antonucci has blown his £2.8 million lottery win

"You don't want to die as the richest man in the graveyard. You have to spend some and enjoy it." Spend it he did. Mr Antonucci, one of the first of the lottery millionaires after borrowing £10 from his mother to buy the tickets, invested his cash in a series of failed ventures. He spent £40,000 launching a pop band and also tried running a massage parlour and a pub.

He spent £10,000 on a wedding to a 22-year-old glamour model in the Bahamas. His marriage to Kelly Arkins lasted just 12 weeks.

But there were good times too. He spent £750,000 buying a former convent, a further £250,000 on a house and £200,000 on a speedboat plus tens of thousands on luxury cars and a jetski.

Mr Antonucci is back running his old business - exporting antique furniture to the United States - and lives in a £300,000 waterfront apartment.

"I am stock rich but cash poor. But as long as I've got my health and a good bottle of wine I am all right. If I had kept everything I bought it would be worth £8 million or £9 million now but I'm OK with what I've got.

"It did not feel to me as if I was living a millionaire lifestyle but I did a few things like holidays and all that."