Dancing grandma from Leicestershire tangoes around Blackpool Ballroom after scooping £1m on lottery

Twinkle-toed Terri Picton-Clark, 72, became a national champion eight years ago but later feared she would have to hang up her dancing shoes due to the cost of her hobby.

But that all changed when she won the Lotto prize with a Lucky Dip ticket in January 2021 - something her husband, John, 72, said he always 'knew would happen'.

Terri needed six hours of 'life-saving' open-heart surgery for a heart valve defect last year, but remarkably, she managed to get back dancing just three months later.

And now she has been pictured on the fabled Blackpool Tower Ballroom - after buying two beautiful bespoke gowns costing £2,000 each for the occasion.

Terri said: “When The Blackpool Tower Ballroom granted me this wish I was, for the first time in my life, totally speechless.

"I am a National Lottery winner and now I am dancing at the world-famous Tower Ballroom.

"I feel like I have won the lottery twice!

“And this just seemed like the perfect moment to buy my dream dresses and go out there in style. It is a day which will remain with me for the rest of my life.”

Terri, from Leicestershire, won The Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance (ISTD) Over 50 Bronze Championships in 2016, just two years after she first started dancing.

But in 2017, she suffered a mini-stroke, and her fears about the cost of the hobby also made her feel like she would have to give it up.

However, avid Strictly fan Terri kept going and since winning the lottery, she feels her regular dancing is keeping her young.

She said: “I love to keep myself fit and active, so it was a real shock when I suffered the stroke, and it hit me very badly.

“It wasn’t without complications and the recovery was a long road but I never gave up hope - I always remained positive and believed that good things would come into my life.

“And good things certainly did when I matched five main numbers and the Bonus Ball and won my £1M Lotto prize with a Lucky Dip ticket!

“It was not long before winning that I was seriously contemplating having to hang up my dancing shoes – dancing is a very expensive hobby.

“But one thing I had always dreamed about, was to dance at the world-famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom.

“I watch Strictly every year and every time I see those dancers at Blackpool it just fills me with emotion. I wanted to be up there too but never believed it would actually ever happen.”

Aaron Edgar, operations manager at The Blackpool Tower and Tower Ballroom, said: “It was just a delight to see Terri on the dancefloor – we were so thrilled to be able to grant her this very special wish.

“She is certainly one incredible lady – who knows, we may even see her in Strictly next!”

Terri and her husband John were on their way to a hardware shop in search of a new kitchen when they bought a ticket for the Lotto draw on January 9, 2021.

Terri remembered: “On our way to our kitchen appointment, we stopped off to get some petrol and bought a Lotto ticket. We always buy a Lucky Dip.

“I remember John saying to me, 'You never know, we might win,' to which I replied ‘Oh, you always say that!’.

“But win we did, and today I feel like a double winner, standing on the iconic floor at The Tower Ballroom with my favourite moves, and to the sounds of the world-famous Wurlitzer organ.

“When it comes to ballroom dancing – it doesn’t get better than Blackpool!"

Terri is an amateur ballroom and Latin dancer and has competed in hundreds of competitions.

She met her dance partner and trainer, Glenn Badham, after attending one of his ballroom dance classes in 2014

She is the only ISTD member who has won five ballroom and three Latin titles, remaining undefeated in the UK in ballroom dancing.

Terri continues to dance twice a week and has already signed up for another competition, The UK National Medallist Championships, at the start of November.

She also loves to go to the gym and trains three times a week on the treadmill and lifting weights.

Terri added: “You are the energy you feel – not your age – and I feel about 21!

“Dancing and keeping fit is everything to me and I have no plans to give up anytime soon.

“Hopefully I will be gracing The Blackpool Tower ballroom floor when I am 100! What a centurion celebration that would be.”