Mike Morin

Can you believe it? As of just a few days ago, the billion dollar Mega Millions lottery winner from Illinois has not claimed his or her 10-digit cash prize after a month. Experts say laying low and hiring a solid team of financial advisors takes time. Of course, I’m thinking the winning ticket ended up going through the Maytag, washing away those lucky 10 digits. Wah wah.

There is, however, a happy local couple that did not wait to claim their 2-million-dollar instant scratch ticket recently. Becky and Greg, formerly of Massachusetts, took the dough as their ticket to move to the Granite State. You may have seen them on HGTV’s popular series, My Lottery Dream Home.

The show works like this: Somebody (single or couple usually) wins a large amount of cash, often in a lottery. Somehow they find their way to the show’s producers and host, who help them find their dream home that presumably they never otherwise could have afforded.

Season 13, Episode 6, “Blended Bliss in New Hampshire,” aired last weekend featuring middle-age couple Becky and Greg, along with Becky’s daughter Elizabeth. The blended family has several children between them.

The episode was quietly shot in and around Nashua in mid-May. Other than a few people who spotted the show’s engaging and flamboyantly-tatted host David Bromstad, HGTV taped the show without much fanfare.

The show opened with the family meeting around a table at Greenleaf in Milford. There, ticket winner Becky shared how she won the money and would allocate $350,000 of the two million (minus taxes) she just won. I’m thinking, “$350,000? Good luck with that in southern New Hampshire.”

With the help of a local realtor and David, the show offers contestants three home choices, which included a split ranch near Milford, a condex on Lochmere Lane in Nashua and a condo in Merrimack, all under $350,000. The winners wanted a home in the woods and you’ll have to watch it on demand to see their choice.

So, this whole taping flew under the radar, I’m guessing, to keep onlookers from getting in the way of the production and giving away the results which I wouldn’t do. I did reach out to a person who appeared on the episode who told me, “I signed a bunch of NDAs (non-disclosure agreements). I am not allowed to do any interviews about the show.” That’s standard operating procedure for reality TV, until a show airs, then typically people involved can speak about it.

Apparently, Regina Lang, owner of the fun SNAP It’s Vintage shop on Main in Nashua, did not have any such restrictions, as she was not part of the episode. She posted on Facebook that host David ventured in to SNAP and did a selfie with the owner while the production was in town.

My Lottery Dream Home is a fun show. I would like to be on it, but I’m guessing my $2 Money Mania scratcher might not buy me much house in Nashua.

Contact Mike Morin at mike morinmedia@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @MikeMorinMedia. His column runs the first, third and fifth Sundays of the month.

Newsletter