Tennessee couple claim $1.6B lottery win

  • 16/01/2016
(@Fox13Kristin/Twitter)
(@Fox13Kristin/Twitter)

A Tennessee couple have come forward with what they say is one of the three winning tickets for this week's record US Powerball lottery jackpot, appearing with their lawyer on NBC's Today program.

Lisa and John Robinson of Munford, Tennessee, revealed on the television show on Friday that they held a winning ticket to claim their share of the US$1.6 billion (NZ$2.43 billion) Powerball prize.

NBC said the ticket had not yet been officially verified, but the couple said they planned to bring it to lottery officials immediately after the show.

The Robinsons said they had reached out to NBC on the advice of their lawyer, Joe Townsend.

"The American public wants to hear from them," Townsend said. Although the couple wants to return to their private lives afterward, "they want to ... let the public know that they're the winners."

John Robinson said that although he did not feel well, he bought the ticket at a local grocery store at his wife's request on Wednesday night, just hours before the drawing.

He said they were excited about their winnings but were "a little scared" about their future.

"Now I'll be nervous because everybody knows," he said.

His wife said they had not had any time to think about what they would do with their share of the jackpot prize but that she planned to return to work on Monday.

"We were up all night," she told NBC. "We didn't get enough sleep."

Holders of the Wednesday night drawings' two other winning tickets, which were sold in California and Florida, have not yet come forward.

Reuters