How £4m lottery winner who lived off £6,500-a-month allowance made heartbreaking discovery before her death
A LOTTERY winner who won £4million made a heartbreaking discovery before her death.
Transgender Melissa Ede, from Hull, appeared on the Jeremy Kyle show under the tagline ‘My dad became a woman then told me I wasn’t his daughter! DNA results’.
It came just months before the former taxi driver scooped a £4million jackpot from a £10 scratchcard in Decebmber 2017.
She went on to give herself a monthly allowance of £6,500 with an annual salary of £78,000 — ten times more than she used to earn.
The 58-year-old gained notoriety after appearing on the now-axed ITV show in January 2017.
She was dealt a devastating blow after a DNA test revealed her daughter Emily wasn’t actually her biological child.
Emily said to Kyle: “I was told my dad might not be my father. But it’s not only that. He transitioned into a woman.”
The children reportedly cut ties with Melissa after the episode aired.
After winning the jackpot she vowed not to give any of the cash to her children.
But her estranged daughter Emily insisted she “didn’t want a penny”.
She told a pal: “I don’t care that she has £4million. It does not alter her personality.
“People are saying, ‘I bet you come out the woodwork now because you want money.”
“I don’t. I just want to keep as far away from her as possible.”
Melissa’s youngest son also hit out at her for walking out on the family when he was aged just seven.
He told the Mirror how before her transition she only sent “a birthday card with an IOU for £20”.
The son slammed: “He took us to McDonald’s every other weekend, then stopped turning up. A few years back we went for a pint. He was still Les and gave a sob story and asked to borrow money.
“I would never ask for anything off him.”
But Mel moved on to the “next phase” of her transformation and splashed out £50,000 to look like “the Hull’s version of Katie Price“.
She also promised to help others experiencing gender challenges with the money.
She said: “The transgender fight to where I am now has been a very difficult path.
“I received my [gender reassignment] operation almost seven years ago, and I am really proud of who I am today.”
However, her tumultuous life came to a tragic end at the age of 58 – only 18 months after she bagged the cash.
Fiancee Rachel Nason, 38, confirmed the news in May 2019.
The devastated council worker said Melissa had been rushed to hospital but was sent home five hours later with the all clear.
Less than a week later, Melissa passed away after suffering a heart attack.
Her body was carried in a LGBT rainbow horse-drawn procession that went past a McDonald’s she “loved”.
The transgender rights advocate had been planning to write an autobiography about her gender transitioning.
It comes as other lottery winners revealed their new lives after scooping the jackpot.
A dad who split with his wife after winning £32.5million in jackpot cash now lives in a luxurious mansion with his new lover.
Gerry and Lisa Cannings bagged the whopping sum in 2016 – but they have since separated.
Elsewhere, Lawrence Candlish won £5.5million but ended up penniless and fiddled thousands of pounds in disability benefits.
He splashed the cash on seven homes for various family members that surrounded his own.
And he gave away £1.2m between a dozen other relatives.
Another couple in Wales became EuroMillions winners after scooping £45million but went on to suffer cancer and divorce.