A FAMILY who bought their home from a couple who won a whopping £184million on the EuroMillions, say you’d never think they had hit the jackpot due to the way they behaved.
Joe and Jess Thwaite scooped the eye watering jackpot last year but kept hold of their modest bungalow in the Gloucestershire countryside.
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Elinor Capostagno, 19, bought the three-bedroom home with her mum after moving from South Africa where they owned a farm.
Student vet Elinor said you’d never think Joe, a former communications sales engineer, was a multi-millionaire due to the way he was dressed when he turned up to the home in Staunton, Glos, to fix the gas tank.
She told The Sun: “He was very sweet, he’s a lovely guy.
“He was still dressed in farmer’s gear and was driving a Nissan pick-up.
“You wouldn’t think he had won the lottery.”
Horse mad Joe and Jess, a hairdresser, 45, had bought the home so their children could ride in the three acre paddock and fields.
And the pair are apparently keen Point to Point fans.
Elinor, who said her family moved from South Africa because farming was becoming too dangerous from threats of violence and robbery, said: “Joe said he was on his way to the Point to Point.
“He could afford to buy himself a very nice horse now.”
The new owners also claimed the Thwaites left the property in “quite a lot of mess”.
Elinor said: “There was a lot to tidy up. It was like they just upped and left. The hedges were a mess.
“We had to completely clean out the stables.
The Sun previously reported how the Thwaites neighbour Faith Cox, 76, was hoping the newly-made millionaires would fix a hole in their boundary fence before they moved.
But Faith claimed they had left before they had a chance to repair it.
The retired widow said at the time: “Their dog got through the hole once and they talked about repairing it but then they won the lottery and they moved out.
“I don’t blame them. They’re lovely, I haven’t got a bad word to say about them, good luck to them. They were only here for four months.”
There are rumours in the picturesque village that the mega-rich pair have bought a petting farm near Cheltenham, Glos, which they plan to develop.
It would follow the same model as Countryfile presenter Gavin Henson’s Cotswold Farm Park, a source said.
They added: “We’ve been told they bought a farm with lots of room to stable their horses but also keep a whole range of animals.
“Apparently the plan is to open up a petting farm for members of the public to visit, like Gavin Henson’s place.”
The family kept three ponies, sheep, chicken and two dogs at their bungalow which they would have needed to find room for.
The Sun previously revealed how the Thwaites celebrated their jackpot with £16.95 steak and chips — and left a lucky tip.
They could have bought 10,870,000 plates of rump with their record-breaking sum.
But instead of a glitzy champagne bash the couple dined with their two kids, pals and extended family at a Miller and Carter chain restaurant on a Gloucester trading estate.
Joe and Jess have kept a very low profile since their staggering £184,262,889 win on the Euromillions last May.
Jess was helping her sister Becky Robinson run Blow hairdressers in Tewkesbury High Street when she won.
But the multi-million pound windfall has not changed Becky’s life.
She has been seen greeting clients behind the desk at the salon.
Joe and Jess had only just moved into their 19th Century Grade II listed Chartist-built home when they won.
And we revealed their first purchase was a £38,000 understated used Volvo estate.
They were previously rumoured to have their eye on a seven-bedroom home with tennis courts, swimming pool and a stable block near to Jeremy Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm in the Cotswolds.
But that house has now been sold to other owners.
The Thwaites have not spoken publicly since winning the jackpot.
Camelot was approached for comment.
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