Karl Crompton, born in Blackpool in 1973, became one of Britain’s youngest and most famous lottery winners when, at just 23 years old, he scooped £10.9 million in the National Lottery in May 1996. Then a trainee earning around £100 a week at the electrical retailer Comet, Crompton’s life changed overnight, and he was soon dubbed “Britain’s most eligible bachelor” and “Rollover Romeo.”
His win came from a ticket chosen with the help of his parents and brother while he was still living with them in a modest semi-detached house near Blackpool. The following morning, he discovered he’d won half of a £22 million rollover jackpot. Within a year, he had spent around £3.5 million on luxury cars, including Porsches and Ferraris, as well as exotic holidays and designer clothes — yet he quickly earned a reputation for being more financially savvy than many winners, investing most of his fortune rather than squandering it.
In 1999, Crompton purchased 11 acres of land in Elswick, Lancashire, for £500,000, where he demolished an old hospital and built a 6,500-square-foot, five-bedroom home featuring a swimming pool, high-end security, and a state-of-the-art entertainment system. The house cost £1.5 million to build and became the centrepiece of his growing property portfolio, which expanded to include several buy-to-let homes across the Fylde area. He also owned a luxury property in Horseshoe Bay, near Vancouver, Canada, which he rented out.
In 2006, a decade after his win, Crompton married his childhood sweetheart, nurse Nicole Roach, whom he had known since their school days in Blackpool. The couple had two sons, Ethan and Jenson. However, by 2020, reports surfaced that the pair had separated, with Crompton no longer wearing his wedding ring.
Now in his fifties, Crompton leads a quieter life in Lancashire, often spotted playing golf with friends. Despite early media attention and the pressures that often accompany sudden wealth, he is thought to have more than doubled his original fortune through careful investments and property development, with an estimated net worth of around £22 million. Once a symbol of lottery-fuelled glamour, Crompton has become a picture of measured success — a man who turned luck into lasting fortune.
Twenty three-year-old Karl Crompton sprays the bubbly around after he collected his National Lottery win of £10,903,198 at Moor Park Golf Club in Rickmansworth with his parents Patricia and Keith (right), and brother Sean (left). A powerful Ducati bike and a Porsche sports car are top of his shopping list. 7 May 1996
National Lottery presenters Frank Bruno Bob Monkhouse and Mystic Meg celebrate the 100th jackpot draw with some of the past winners (back L to R) Bob Westland ( 3.7m), Ken Southwell ( 900,000), Elaine Thompson ( 2.7m), Peter Lavery ( 10.2m) and Karl Crompton ( 10.9m). Photo by Adam Butler/PA – 12 October 1996
Karl Crompton with his mother Patricia, getting to grips with the motorbike of his dreams, a Ducati 916 Senna, after he collected his National Lottery win of £10,903,198 at Moor Park Golf Club in Rickmansworth. 7 May 1996
