‘Just wanted to get on TV’: Twist after $1billion ‘lotto winner’s’ celebration

Millions of people who watched a woman’s reaction to winning California’s billion dollar jackpot will be surprised by the latest update.

Woman claims to be billion-dollar Powerball winner. Picture: KTLA.

The woman who appeared on TV claiming to be California’s billion-dollar Powerball winner was a fake who “just wanted to get on the news”, according to a source.

Footage of the woman walking into the Las Palmitas Mini Mart — a small convenience store in east LA that sold the winning ticket — went viral after it appeared on local news channel KTLA on Thursday night.

In the clip, the woman was stormed by reporters as she entered the store and asked whether she was the winner.

She broke down in tears and managed a quick nod, before thanking God and her fellow patrons and sprinting off down the street.

The winning billion-dollar #Powerball ticket was sold in downtown #LosAngeles. This woman claims she is the winner. Video clips courtesy of “Inside Edition”. @knxnewspic.twitter.com/fvL9VXudbL

— Jon Baird (@KNXBaird) July 20, 2023

“Honey, I can’t. I’m scared right now, I’m so scared,” she said before breaking from the crowd.

The footage was shared on Twitter, where it was viewed more than five million times and many congratulated the woman on her win — but it seems it was not real.

The true winner of the $1.08 billion (A$1.59 billion) fortune is yet to come forward, according to Sarai Palacios, the granddaughter of Nabor Herrera, who owns the convenience store.

“She didn’t win. I’m not sure why she did that. I guess she just wanted to be on TV,” Ms Palacios told the Daily Mail.

“We don’t know who the winner is yet. They still haven’t come forward.”

The woman was stormed by reporters at the store. Picture: KTLA.

The huge jackpot means Ms Palacios’s family is set to receive a $1 million windfall of its own as a reward for selling the winning ticket.

Her grandfather plans to spend the cash on a luxury holiday and a college fund, Ms Palacios said.

Though the real owner of the billion-dollar ticket is yet to come forward, they will eventually have to do so. Californian law mandates that the names of lottery winners be released publicly, though no other identifying information is required to be shared.

The California Lottery quickly shut down any speculation as to the winner’s identity.

“Anybody claiming to be the winner isn’t valid until we say it is,” spokesperson Carolyn Becker said at a press conference outside the convenience store on Thursday morning.

Last week, it was revealed a single ticket had won the huge Powerball jackpot after weeks of frenzied ticket-buying.

The jackpot had last been won on April 19 and, after 38 consecutive draws without a winner, climbed to a staggering $1.08 billion (A$1.59 billion).

It comes after fellow Californian Edwin Castro became the richest winner in Powerball history, cleaning up a staggering US$2 billion (A$3 billion) last year and making him an overnight billionaire.