A teenage tearaway who blew her £1.9 million lotto win on drugs and partying has turned her life around and is expecting twins.
Callie Rogers shot to fame when she scooped nearly £2m in prize money in a 2003 draw, at the tender age of just 16.
But the fresh-faced youngster was to learn money couldn’t buy her happiness after she made three suicide attempts, lost custody of the children she had with her ex and blew £250,000 on cocaine.
Callie also went on plastic surgery binges, forking out £11,500 for two boob jobs and had extensive Japanese tattoos inked all over her body.
She’s struggling to make ends meet now, but Callie tells Closer magazine she couldn’t be more content.
The 25-year-old said: “It was a total surprise. We didn’t plan a baby, let alone two, but I’m truly the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.
Scroll down for more pictures of Callie celebrating her win and posing nude on a bed of cash
2010: She's in the money. Sorry, on it
“I’ve finally grown up and said goodbye to my troubled past. I might not have any of my millions left but, for the first time in my life, I really do feel like I’ve won the lottery.”
The father of Callie’s twins, due in just three weeks, is fireman Paul Penny, 33, and the pair live in a modest three-bedroom terrace in Cumbria.
Callie now now has regular access to her two other children, Kian, seven and Debony, four, who live with their father Nicky Lawson.
She added: “Last year, I sold my £70,000 home and now we live in a rented house while we save up for a place of our own,” says Callie. “We haven’t bought much for the babies, though we’ve got a new twin buggy.
“I have about £40,000 left from the sale of the house but, after that, all my money is gone. But I’m really not worrying about it. I just don’t desire material things like I used to. Long gone are the days when I’d spend thousands on plastic surgery and £200 every other month on hair extensions.”
Callie was earning £3.60 an hour as a shop assistant when she scooped £1.9m in 2003. Two weeks after her win, she met Nicky, 29. They went on to have two children together, but the pair had a rocky relationship and Callie became hooked on cocaine.
“My relationship with Nicky was so destructive,” she recalls.
As well as drugs, she spent her winnings on holidays, homes for relatives, designer clothes and fast cars. But the money never seemed to make Callie happy. She became very depressed and tried to take her life on three occasions.
She says: “Suddenly, I didn’t know if people loved me for me. I thought the way to be loved and feel loved was to shower people with gifts. Having money was just slowly destroying me.
2003: Sweet sixteen and a millionaire to boot, Callie celebrates her win all those years ago
“I made bad choices with men and was partying to the point where I was totally out of control. When I look back at that time now, I’m horrified by the choices I made. When I think about the drugs and the suicide attempts, it’s like I’m thinking about another person.”
Callie lost custody of her children last year. She explains: “I have them two nights a week and, on those days, the four of us cuddle up on the sofa and watch movies together. It’s then I feel at my happiest, as we’re a proper family.
“I’ll leave it up to the kids to decide if they want to live with me when they’re older but, right now, the arrangement works for everyone.”
She adds: “With Paul, I know it’s real love and I feel very blessed to have found him. He’s helped me find the confidence I lacked. Every day he tells me how amazing I am – and that’s with me having barely a penny to my name. He loves me for being me. He also gave me the confidence to go back to college to study beauty.”
Callie says Paul was “utterly delighted” when she told him she was pregnant and adds: “He broke out into the biggest smile I’ve ever seen.”
And Paul didn’t flinch when doctors revealed Callie was expecting twins. She says: “I had a sneaking suspicion, as I felt so different from the first two times I was pregnant.
“My bump just seemed to appear so quickly and was so much bigger than when I had the other two. Plus, twins run in mine and Paul’s families. It was so emotional – we were both so happy.
"Obviously a big part of me is petrified, not only financially, but medically too, as there are risks involved with having twins.”
But, aside from struggling with fatigue, she has loved every minute of her pregnancy.
She said: “It really is like I’m having a baby for the first time. When I was pregnant with Kian, I was on my own as Nicky and I weren’t together. And when I was pregnant with Debony, I think I knew Nicky wasn’t the man for me. So, this time it’s like I’m experiencing the joy all mums-to-be should go through. It’s not just my baby, it’s our baby.
“I’ve not even minded that with twins comes double everything – double morning sickness and double the amount of kicks they give you. I’ve also been having strange cravings and eating around six packets of Softmints a day, as well as continually cleaning the house. I love the smell of Cif cleaner!”
Petite Callie, who is just 5ft 2in tall, has put on 3st on her 7st frame during her pregnancy.
She says: “I have a small build and was a little underweight before I fell pregnant. I haven’t really put on much weight anywhere else – I’m all bump.But, even if I’d ballooned, I wouldn’t have cared this time.
“With the other two, I’d be frantic if even the slightest sign of a stretch mark appeared. But when I started getting them on my tummy this time, I just embraced them.”
Callie’s 32F breast implants have also increased to a 32G. She says: “They feel enormous, but it’s all part of expecting. Debony loves to stroke and talk to my belly and, now I’m older, I know there are bigger things to worry about than getting fat and losing my pregnancy weight.
“Instead, I’m just going to enjoy every minute of the process and keep pinching myself to believe how lucky I am.”
The full feature appears in this week’s Closer magazine, on sale now.
