A group of three Glendale girlfriends are busily planning to celebrate their annual Christmas lunch in style after discovering they scored $2 million in Saturday Lotto more than a month ago.

The private syndicate held one of the 10 division one winning entries in Saturday Lotto draw 4099, drawn Saturday 31 October 2020. Each entry took home a division one prize of $2 million. 

The ticket was unregistered, so we had no way of reaching the ticketholder to break the life-changing news and had to wait for them to come forward to claim their prize. 

Sharing her excitement with us this morning, the syndicate leader explained the delay in coming forward to claim their multi-million-dollar prize. 

“Wow! That is awesome! I’ve been on holiday, and I left my ticket at home!” she laughed. 

“I always buy our entries four weeks at a time, and so I left it in a drawer at home while I was on holiday and only remembered to check it today after getting back a few days ago. 

“How exciting! It’s such good news. 

“There are three of us that have been playing this ticket for about three years. 

“We keep all of our winnings in a little kitty and always use it to buy our annual Christmas lunch. 

“This year we’ve only got about $35 so far, but I think now we’ll have to upgrade our plans and have a nicer lunch! 

“It’s just wonderful to be able to share this win with my two close friends. 

“I’m going to invite them over for dinner and tell them then! I can’t wait for us all to celebrate together.” 

When asked how she thought they would each enjoy their prize, the woman declared she would be retiring immediately. 

“Well, I wasn’t really looking forward to going back to work tomorrow, but I don’t think I have to now!” she laughed. 

“My holiday has been extended indefinitely! I was planning on retiring in a year anyway, but this has just brought it forward. 

“I think another one of my friends will retire too, and the other will probably collapse in excitement as she won’t have to work overtime anymore. 

“I am definitely going to buy myself a new car too. I’ve always wanted a brand new Toyota Rav 4, and now I’ll be able to get one. 

“My current car has over 400,000 kilometres on it, so I think it’s time for it to retire too. We’ll retire together!”

The winning entry was purchased at Nextra Glendale, Shop 33 Stockland Centre, 387 Lake Road, Glendale. 

Nextra Glendale owner Michelle Nash said she was thrilled the winners had been united with their prize. 

“We’ve had customers asking us every day if we have found our winner and so now we are happy to say we have!” she exclaimed. 

“It’s wonderful it has gone to regular customers and locals to the area. 

“We wish our winners all the best!”