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Daily Mail
4 days ago
- Daily Mail
Dad who won £6m Lottery jackpot and then FLED the UK because friends begged him for cash has been living in modest £200k North London flat
A lottery winner who was driven out of Britain after greedy relatives begged him for cash has been living in a modest flat in North London. Roger Robar said his life became a 'suffocating hell' after winning £6 million in 1996 when he quickly became bombarded with people asking for handouts. The seafood chef was inundated with letters and eventually gave away £1.5 million to good causes. But the stress of his fortune ended his marriage, stopped him from having more kids and severely impacted his mental health. Martinique-born Roger eventually opened up his own restaurant in London but fled Britain to France just three years later. Now 29 years after his win, he is back in the UK, and was living in a small £200k flat in Enfield until just a few months ago. Sadly for chef Roger his ground-floor flat was gutted in a fire with damage from the blaze seen around his front door and windows. A friend told MailOnline: 'He used to live here, until his flat caught on fire about two months ago. I have no idea what caused it. Now 29 years after his win, he is back in the UK, and was living in a small £200k flat in Enfield until just a few months ago (Pictured: The block of flats where Roger lived before the fire) 'The whole flat is completely black, you can even see it on the front door. Thankfully, no one got hurt and my flat wasn't damaged. 'I've got no idea where he's gone or what he's doing. I haven't heard from him.' Another neighbour said the 'whole block was filled with black smoke' on the day of the devastating fire. Apart from the charred brick work around Roger's destroyed flat and a pile of rubbish outside, the building looks like an average suburban block. It is unclear where Roger is now, but it seems he is no longer living the luxurious lifestyle of a multi-millionaire. According to social media posts, he was running a firm called 'Roger's Catering Service', where he described himself as a 'Master Chef'. In an advert from 2023, Roger revealed prices for his meals including steak and chips for £10. The post said: 'Results after one month to lose weight, diabetes/blood pressure. 'Only £10 for three of the best recipes including food and juices.' Roger's Facebook page is full of him cooking dishes including fish stews and desserts. Many of his Facebook videos of him cooking are played alongside relaxing and chilled music. In other pictures he is posing in chef whites, a Liverpool top or relaxing in a modest home. His social media pages make no mention of the jackpot or his previous struggles to cope with life as a multi-millionaire. Pictured: The brick wall around one of the windows on Roger's flat which has been charred by the fire Roger started playing the lottery with hopes he would win and could use the money to pay for his daughter's wedding while working as a £250-a-week chef in London. At first he enjoyed the trappings of his new found fortune, splashing out on a luxury £400k home in Crouch End, north London, a £350k beauty salon for his new hairdresser wife Mary and a £40k Range Rover. He even bought the restaurant where he used to work and re-opened it as 'Roger's Seafood'. Kind-hearted Roger often helped people in his local community, saying in 1999: 'If people ask me, I give it [money] to them. 'But for every one person I give to, there are hundreds who want more from me. And most of them don't need the money at all: they just want it for free.' However, it was his wife's family that allegedly pushed his generosity to the limits - leading to the breakdown in his marriage just three years after his mega win. Speaking at the time he said: 'I didn't just marry Mary - I married her mother, father, aunties, uncles, and cousins. 'Every day I had to make out a cheque for this one and that one. It never stopped and I'm not a bank. In the end I told them all to leave me alone. 'Mary was never after my money. She never used me or spent a lot but other people got in the way of our marriage. 'Her family and friends created lots of problems for us and she tried to change me to meet their demands so we were fighting all the time. In the end it was better for us to split up.' Roger's then assistant Sarm Basram said he faced 'phenomenal' jealously from loved ones and friends. Speaking in 1998, a year after his win, she said: 'At times I am protective of him, because people tend to crowd around him believing his luck to be infectious. 'I also deal with all the letters he receives which ask him for money. Initially he gave a lot of help to those he felt most needed it, including struggling single mothers, but people were ungrateful and just wanted more and more from him.' She added: 'The phenomenal jealousy that some friends obviously feel can cause them to be really horrible to him. But it just makes him try harder than ever to give something back to the young and the elderly. 'He still does the Lottery twice a week, using his special system, and I am sure he will win again. He encourages me to join in but I don't think I would want to be a multimillionaire, having seen the amount of stress it can cause.' Roger was so stressed he described life with his lottery millions a 'suffocating hell'. He said: 'I regret it day and night. Last week I woke up sobbing and shouting, "God, I made a terrible mistake, please help me." 'It would have been better if I hadn't won the lottery. I had no idea my life would turn out like this, so packed full of stress. 'If I had the choice between winning the lottery and still being a chef on £250-a-week, I'd choose to stay a chef. I was so much happier. 'No one came to beg from me, my life was good, full of laughs, and easy going. I rented a flat, travelled on the bus or friends drove me, worked hard at a job I love, and then I relaxed. I was a million times more relaxed. 'It's too late to change now. 'To change I must leave England. Only that will save my life. If I stay in this country I will die.'
CNET
16-07-2025
- General
- CNET
Grilling These 7 Foods Is a Big Mistake
Fire up the grill, slap on some sunscreen, and let summer cooking begin. From burgers to corn, the grill can handle a lot -- but not everything. CNET Some foods just weren't built for life over open flames. Most grills have wide grates, which means delicate items like flaky fish or chopped veggies can slip through the cracks and meet a tragic, charred end. That's one reason outdoor griddles have gained popularity -- they're flat, forgiving, and great for tricky foods. But let's be honest: they don't deliver that signature smoky char we all crave from the real deal. Still, the classic grill remains a summer staple. Just know its limits. Here are seven foods that are better off cooked elsewhere -- and why your grill might not be doing them any favors. If you do plan to grill a few items on this list, you'll want to secure the food with special grilling equipment to keep them from falling down and creating a major cleaning headache later. Flaky fish Cod and halibut aren't great candidates for cooking on the grill. David Watsky/CNET If you've ever slapped a filet of flaky fish like tilapia, cod or halibut over an open flame, you probably know why it's not the best idea. Flaky fish tends to fall through the grates to a firey death once it starts cooking. Instead, try grilling any one of these firm fish that seafood chef Akira Beck recommends. If you simply must grill flaky fish over the grates, get yourself a fish grilling basket to keep those filets in tact. Peeled shrimp If you're going to grill shrimp, I suggest leaving the shell on until it's cooked. Dreamfarm Grilling shrimp over a hot grill isn't a bad idea, but if you're going to do it, keep the shrimp in its shell until after it's done cooking. Peeled shrimp cooks quickly and can dry out in the blink of an eye. Since you can't cook in oil or sauce on a grill, you're better off not peeling it to protect the meat from intense heat. Scallops Special skills include searing scallops. David Watsky/CNET Scallops are another seafood that in theory is great when grilled, but the potential for disaster just isn't worth it. Even large scallops are liable to fall through. Instead, cook them in a carbon-steel or stainless-steel skillet over the grates to give them a proper seer and caramelized crust that slatted grates just won't deliver. Small or thinly sliced vegetables If you're planning to cook button or baby bella mushrooms on the grill, be prepared to lose many of them through the grates. Patrick Holland/CNET Certain vegetables were made for the grill, while others were made to fall right through to the flames below. Small vegetables such as green beans, snow peas, button mushrooms and broccoli florets should never be flung onto a bare grill. To make an outdoor stir-fry or cook smaller, sliced veggies on the grill, use skewers or cook them in a sauté pan on the grill or over a grill mat to keep them safely away from the fire. Read more: Before You Fire Up Your Grill, Here's How to Make It Shine Bacon An outdoor griddle can handle strips of bacon, but a traditional grill isn't the place to cook them. James Bricknell/CNET Bacon, even thick slabs of it, is another poor choice for the grill. Thinner bacon will be impossible to manage but even thick-cut bacon is so fatty that grease will drip through to the fire below and cause annoying, possibly dangerous, splatters and explosions. Worse yet, you'll have a seriously disgusting grill to clean up after. Instead, try this cleaner method for making bacon. Breaded meat Breaded food just doesn't work on the grill. David Watsky/CNET You might be tempted to make grilled chicken or pork cutlets, but save that breaded meat for the air fryer, oven or sauté pan. Much of that coating will shake free from the food, and you'll end up with a pile of burnt breading at the bottom of your grill. Calzones Making grilled pizza is a fine idea but calzones are a trickier business. Ooni Pizza on the grill is an excellent idea, but the pie's puffier cousin won't work quite as well. Because of a calzone's thickness and shape, it's difficult to get the inside cooked without burning the doughy shell. The innards are also likely to spill out and leak down into the grates, creating a greasy, cheesy mess to clean up later. Instead, use a pizza oven to cook perfect calzones in mere minutes and save yourself from carb-related heartbreak. For more kitchen tips, read our guide to the best cheap steak cuts and check out these eight surprising foods to cook in an air fryer.
