TOMMY FRENCH COMPETITIONS WINNER - Made with Clipchamp
New dad Tyler wins house via Tommy French Competitions
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00:00 It still hasn't sort of settled in yet I don't think, you know.
00:07 Brilliant. There's been lots of tears.
00:10 Yeah. It just keeps hitting us in a different way all over again.
00:14 Yeah, and we're on the moment.
00:16 So where are you living at the moment? Do you own your own house at the moment?
00:19 No, we're actually living with our aunt's parents up the mount.
00:23 We're going to move in there for a while to try and get a bit of money together, you know,
00:28 so we could actually get a deposit and get a mortgage, you know, to get a house.
00:32 So that just went out the window. So we're grateful for it, mind you.
00:37 We were trying to avoid renting. We really wanted to get on the property ladder, get a deposit down.
00:43 So that was the best option was to stay home for another while.
00:47 But we honestly didn't know how long it was going to take us to save for the full deposit.
00:53 So, yeah, that's really sorted us out.
00:57 I'm currently working in a factory making like peat incense, just like Irish peat incense,
01:05 the wee cottages and stuff. But I'm also trying to become a tailor and make shirts,
01:11 mostly Irish linen type of shirts. So that's what I'm in the middle of doing.
01:16 And then I'm a substitute primary school teacher.
01:19 Right, where do you teach?
01:21 I've just done a wee bit everywhere, like St Anthony's Primary School.
01:25 And then I've got loads of work in Bismore, but it's actually a secondary school.
01:30 But yeah, I've just been here, there and everywhere. It's just the nature of it.
01:34 I'm sure the kids that you teach will be so excited to hear all this news.
01:38 I know, I would actually love to just go in for a day just to see their reaction to it all.
01:44 And what's next? When are you moving in?
01:47 I think within the next few weeks, just waiting on the paperwork to be done,
01:52 you know, with the solicitor and stuff. And then I'll actually get it signed over and then hopefully move in.
01:59 I was in around 10 o'clock and I'd seen it was about 10 to 10.
02:04 And I thought, oh, I'll have to have my French waffles tonight.
02:08 So I thought I probably missed it. So I went on the phone to chat and then realised that it hadn't actually been drawn yet.
02:15 So I was so happy to hear. So I sat watching it and in the middle of watching it,
02:19 Earl returned to me and said, would you go out and get my water bottle from the car?
02:23 So I got up, went out to the car, get the water bottle, got it, just closed the car.
02:29 And then I heard Julian Simmonds on the raffle saying, I'm going to generate the number in three, two, one.
02:37 And then he generated it and I stopped and was watching it.
02:41 And I don't know why it was really strange, but when the number came up, I just felt like I recognised it.
02:47 I don't know why, but, and then they typed the number in and my name came up and I just lost it.
02:53 I nearly smashed the front window of the house, knocking it to get Earl's attention.
02:57 Poor Earl had a cease action for the labour.
03:02 So she was in loads of pain and she'd been spun round, probably hurt herself a bit.
03:07 So she was really annoyed at me. So he came into the house and just looking at me like she wanted to kill me.
03:12 But then I was just then going, "We've won the house! We've won the house!"
03:17 And then Earl's face just changed from pure anger, just to tears, just started tripping her, you know, pure enjoyment.
03:23 Just pure, pure enjoyment. It was incredible. It was brilliant. No thing like it.
03:30 That's amazing. And I suppose the phone call started then, didn't they?
03:34 Well, nobody's lied to me straight after because Julian had the ring with him.
03:39 And then I needed to get Tom's friends then, had to ring me after that to confirm it all and make sure that everything was alright with it.
03:46 And then, yeah, the phone calls, text messages.
03:49 To be honest, still going through text messages from people I know, you know, just saying, you know, congratulations and stuff.
03:55 That's how I knew it was, because I was saying to him, like, "Are you sure? Like, are you definitely sure?"
04:01 And then my phone started to just ding, ding, ding. And then the phone calls were coming through.
04:07 And it's like we just kind of knew it has to be real, like it has to be.
04:11 Yeah, especially with Julian Simmonds around. I just thought it was on UTV for a month.
04:17 So, Tommy, this house that you had up for a competition, how has it been this week since you found out that Tyler won?
04:30 Unbelievable. I mean, it's always exciting doing a prize. Like a house, we do a lot of life-changing prizes, cash prizes and the like.
04:39 We do cars, we do everything. But there's something special, you know, when we're doing the house, because it really kind of changed someone's life.
04:48 And I think with these guys, Tyler and you straight away, you were taking the house.
04:52 100%. Straight away, as soon as the name came out, I knew. I knew I was taking it from that moment. Big time.
04:58 And I think the thing that we always look at it, and I'm delighted that these guys took the house.
05:03 Obviously, there was a massive cash sum that they could have taken instead, £175,000. But money comes and goes.
05:11 Big time. You guys will have this forever. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
05:15 So it was great. It's an unbelievable buzz for us as well. And it's such a good feeling to see the reaction from these guys.
05:23 Honestly, the feeling that we get when you hear these stories and you actually see how it affects people's lives, it's a really special feeling.
05:34 And that's across the board. It's not just for the big prizes. Sometimes somebody wins £500 or £1,000 cash and they're just as happy.
05:44 So tell me, Erin, how big is this prize for you and your family?
05:51 It's hard to even explain it because it's consumed so many of our conversations and our thoughts for so long.
06:03 As soon as I knew I was pregnant, it's been all we've been able to think about is, right, the next step is this house.
06:09 But how are we going to make this happen in such a short space of time? I'm going to have to take off work.
06:15 And when you're a substitute teacher, you're not entitled to the same money or anything like that.
06:22 So it was definitely a big worry for us. Even worrying about how long maternity leave could I afford to take before I was going to have to go back.
06:32 And it's just erased every worry that we've ever had, to be honest. So it's been really, really massive for me.
06:41 Massively, yeah. It's been crazy. It really has.
06:44 And then the last thing you want is money worries whenever you're just brought a new child into the world.
06:50 Yes. It's just the ideal situation to just take as long as you need off with your child.
06:57 Everyone says you never get that time back. So it does feel really, really special to be able to take the full time now.
07:05 So I'm just so grateful.
07:07 It feels like a fairy tale. It feels like something you'd read in a fairy tale book.
07:11 It does. Like a little kid's story. It's so strange.
07:15 So have you picked out an extra? Like upstairs?
07:19 Oh yeah, yeah. So the wee single room will be his.
07:23 Because we have all the furniture sitting in my parents' house because we thought that's where we were going to be.
07:28 Built everything into the room. Painted the walls and got the room changed.
07:34 Now they'll probably be changing it back to something else.
07:37 Yeah. And then we'll have a spare room. We've already been joking with friends.
07:42 You can come and stay in our spare room and we can't even believe that we're able to say that since I lied.
07:48 Or maybe baby number two.
07:50 Oh my god, no.
07:52 Don't be scared.
07:54 Not yet. Not anytime soon.
07:58 So what's your favourite part of the house so far? Do you like the kitchen the most?
08:03 The kitchen's stunning to be honest. I do really like the kitchen. I really like it.
08:08 I think the master bedroom has to be my favourite. There's the en suite bathroom. Massive big shower.
08:15 And just loads of space.
08:19 I know what your favourite is. Your favourite's the bath. Not even the room. The bath alone.
08:25 That's what her favourite is.
08:27 Just looking forward to laying in the bath with a glass of wine.
08:30 What about the back of the garden? I mean that's going to be important.
08:34 Yeah, the garden's lovely too. And the garden furniture as well.
08:37 You know, there's a wee sat out there for chilling out in the summer and there's a wee fire pit in the middle of it too which I think is fantastic.
08:45 I'll definitely be getting this wee man a wee football nap down the back of the garden.
08:50 Be getting him trained up.
08:52 Who's he going to play for?
08:53 Lurgan Saldik first of all. I'll tell you what, he'll be following my footsteps all the way.
08:58 I'm just absolutely delighted for both of these people. It's such a buzz.
09:05 And you can see the reaction on Facebook I suppose because Tyler and Erin are both from the area that's local to this house.
09:13 It just made sense for them to make the move and take the house and I say it's forever.
09:20 So I'm delighted for you.
09:22 Still sinking in. There has been such a buzz online as well.
09:26 I know our notifications have been going crazy so I'm sure yours have been as well.
09:30 It has been and I think a lot of people sort of felt the emotion of the video that we put up on our Facebook the other day.
09:39 And the response, not just from the local area here but just across Northern Ireland and even further afield was unbelievable.
09:47 People like to see it, you know, big time.
09:49 Good things happening to good people and things that don't normally happen.
09:53 Who would have thought that you guys would have been in this position?
09:56 There you go.
09:57 So it's all just worked out perfectly.
09:59 The location here is fantastic.
10:02 We were thinking about it later as it got down the line.
10:05 We were going, you think about how many things are so local.
10:07 There's M&S, there's Texco's, there's the cinema.
10:10 The shopping centre.
10:11 The shopping centre.
10:12 The lines.
10:13 Portadines literally just there.
10:14 Nurgans just there.
10:15 You're sort of right in the middle.
10:16 Everything is just...
10:18 You've got Sightlay leisure centre which is incredible.
10:21 It's great.
10:22 It is.
10:23 It's brilliant.
10:24 It is crazy.
10:25 It's just in the perfect spot, perfect timing.
10:28 It's a dream.
10:29 It's a dream honestly.