There is probably no feeling like the excitement of winning a jackpot in a lottery. It's something few people get to experience, but it happened to one reporter in Spain live on the air.
Natalia Escudero took part in the country's Christmas lottery, which is called El Gordo. The top prize is just over four million dollars, but it gets shared among the winners if there is more than one. Well the winning number was 26590, and that's what was on Natalia's ticket. While reporting live, she screamed in excitement and had champagne sprayed around her. She then told the anchors in the studio she wouldn't be coming to work tomorrow, implying she was quitting.
What she didn't realize though was that she'd only be pocketing a fraction of the winnings, just $5,550, because so many others won as well.
After realizing Natalia's mistake, later in the newscast, the anchors went back to check in on her again. That time, she was much more subdued and made the gesture of zipping her lips and throwing away the key before apologizing for the "emotional" way she took the news.
Natalia then took to Twitter to address fans who felt cheated since she gave the impression she won the jackpot and was quitting. She explained that the past few months have been "difficult" "for personal reasons," but she is proud of her "rigorous and proven work" over her 25 years in journalism. She added, "It is sad that Natalia Escudero is today [known as] the manipulative and lying journalist from RTVE."
She once again apologized for any confusion but noted that she was being honest about taking time off because she is "going on holiday."
Photo: Twitter/TVE