Husband spent £50,000 gameshow winnings in just four months so he wouldn't have to share it with his estranged wife
- Scott Brown cleared £15,000 debts, spent £4,000 on a second-hand Jaguar and put £2,000 aside to pay for divorce legal fees
- Wife Rachel took him to court as soon as the episode of Deal Or No Deal was shown on TV
- Mr Brown had been sleeping on the floor at his parents' house after the couple split
Caribbean dream: Scott Brown with his bride Rachel on their wedding day in September 2009 in the Dominican Repulic. She asked for a divorce on Christmas Day last year
After Scott Brown held his nerve to win £50,000 on Deal Or No Deal, he was determined that his estranged wife should not get a penny.
But with only four months before the TV gameshow was screened and she found out about his windfall, the father-of-two knew he had to spend it fast.
The 33-year-old sign manufacturer and fitter said he used £15,000 to clear all the debts he and his wife Rachel, 29, had from credit card bills, loans and bank overdrafts.
After setting aside almost £2,000 to cover legal fees for his divorce, he bought clothing, toys and household items for their two young children.
Mr Brown also used some cash to ‘live off’, having being signed off from work because of ‘depression’.
But he admits he spent most of the rest on ‘having a good time’, including an iPad, a holiday in Mexico and the outlay of £4,000 on a second-hand X-type Jaguar estate car.
The final part of his winnings went days before his own August 21 deadline to pay for an electrician’s course, so he could start a new career.
As it turned out, Mr Brown was right to suspect that his wife, who he says asked him for a divorce on Christmas Day last year when he allegedly found she had been having an affair with a truck driver she met over the internet, would want to cash in on his lucky break.
As soon as the Channel 4 programme was broadcast, she went to court in a belated bid to ensure she received a share.
The case went before a district judge at Doncaster County Court last Thursday, when Mr Brown was ordered to detail in writing how the money was spent; an injunction imposed days earlier ordering him not to spend his winnings – if any remained – was kept in place; and the case was adjourned.
Share this article
The couple, who are in the process of getting divorced, neither looked at or spoke to each other throughout the brief hearing.
Outside court, Mr Brown told the Daily Mail how the show, presented by Noel Edmonds, changed his life when he was at his lowest ebb, saying: ‘I was over the moon to have won that amount. I was told Rachel could lay claim to it so I decided, “She is not getting a penny”.’
Moment of triumph: Scott Brown appearing on Deal or No Deal
Host Noel Edmonds on Channel Four's Deal or No Deal, where contestants can win up to £250,000
Mr Brown married customer services adviser Rachel in the Dominican Republic in September 2009.
The couple already had one child, now aged six, and decided to have another baby, now 22 months old.
The family moved to rent a bigger house near Doncaster but their debts began to mount.
Mr Brown said his wife told him late last year she ‘didn’t love him any more’ and by the time he found out he was going on the gameshow in April, Mr Brown had moved out and was sleeping on the floor of his cramped parents’ house.
He said he was ‘absolutely disgusted’ by his wife, saying: ‘How does she have the right to this money? My life has broken apart, I can’t see my kids every day any more and I have lost everything I have worked for over 11 years.’
Mrs Brown refused to comment.
On Deal Or No Deal, contestants pick one of 22 sealed boxes containing hidden amounts of cash ranging from 1p to £250,000, then eliminate the other boxes one by one.
Mr Brown gambled by turning down offers of £22,250 and £13,000 from the show’s mysterious ‘banker’ to ‘deal’ and quit the game, instead carrying on until the end to win the £50,000 in his box.
Most watched News videos
- President Macron blows off Trump's handshake at pope's funeral
- Trump and Melania land in Italy for Pope's funeral
- Biden seen assisted down set of stairs into funeral of Pope Francis
- Trump and Prince William attend Pope's funeral
- Pope Francis buried in simple tomb in St Mary Major basilica
- Trump blows off Joe Biden's attendance at Pope's funeral
- Donald and Melania Trump go separate ways for her birthday
- Epstein's victim Virginia Giuffre dies by suicide
- World leaders their pay respects ahead of Pope Francis' funeral
- Trump and Biden sit just five rows between them at Pope's funeral
- Donald Trump accused of breaking dress code at pope's funeral
- Trump sits down with Zelensky for tense face-to-face Vatican meeting
