Transgender lottery winner Melissa Ede dies 18 months after £4m win
Melissa Ede died aged 58. (Facebook)
Melissa Ede, a former Hull taxi driver known for appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show and for winning £4 million on a National Lottery scratch card, has died suddenly.
Ede passed away on Saturday (May 11) aged 58, her fiancée Rachel Nason has confirmed.
The lottery winner had just a few days earlier been taken to hospital suffering from “crushing chest pains.”
She told the Hull Daily Mail that she woke up at 5am on Monday (May 5) “hardly able to breathe.”
“It lasted about half hour then I went back to bed,” she said.
“Then the same happened in the afternoon but worse. Rach ended up calling an ambulance and they came and did the usual tests and advised I went with them for further tests.”
At the time, doctors found nothing wrong with Ede and gave her the “all clear.”
“It does make you think. I need to be doing more in life,” she said.
“It does make you think. I need to be doing more in life.”
— Melissa Ede
Ede’s family have said that funeral arrangements are being made.
As of yet, no cause of death has been made public.
Melissa Ede known for Jeremy Kyle appearances and YouTube channel
Ede was a well-known figure in her local Hull, and described herself as a “viral video” and “reality star” on her Facebook page.
She regularly shared videos to her popular YouTube channel, and had made a series of daytime TV appearances.
In February 2016, she took part in a Jeremy Kyle Show segment titled “My transgender love rival is trying to steal my husband.”
Melissa Ede shortly before her death. (Facebook)
After the episode aired, Ede told the Hull Daily Mail that she had received kind words from the trans community.
“The feedback has been great and people have been telling me I have done both Hull and the transgender community proud, she said.
Ede returned to the ITV programme in July 2017, and also appeared on Judge Rinder in February 2018 and on Tattoo Fixers Extreme in November 2018.
Melissa Ede won £4 million on lottery scratch card
Her appearance on the courtroom show aired shortly after Ede won £4 million on a National Lottery scratch card.
She had been on her way to work an evening shift in her taxi when she purchased the scratch card in a petrol station.
At a press conference to announce her win, she said: “The transgender fight to where I am now has been a difficult path.”
She called the win “a fairytale ending,” adding: “It is all just like a dream.”
