The Millionaire Skydiver
How Winning the Lottery as an Addict Nearly Cost Me Everything
Guest: Peter John Mather — skydiver, entrepreneur, life coach and founder of Healthy Mindset Rebels
Trigger Warning
This episode contains themes of addiction and suicide. Please be aware before listening.
Episode Description
Peter John Mather won 5.2 million pounds on the lottery with his mum twenty years ago. He was 20 years old, already working in bars, already drinking, already using drugs. The money didn't solve any of that. As Peter says himself: it doesn't solve your problems, it just enhances them.
What followed was almost two decades of addiction running alongside an extraordinary life — representing Great Britain at skydiving, building businesses in fireworks and sky sports, living across multiple countries, getting to within days of losing everything. A heart attack at 21. Suicide attempts. A relationship that left the country. Rock bottom in a foreign country, alone, having driven 26 hours through the night with everything he owned in the back of a car.
And then — a phone call from a friend who had no idea what was going on. A Tony Robbins audiobook on a drive back from a party. Six words: change your environment, change your life. Five years clean and sober later, Peter is building Healthy Mindset Rebels and helping others find the same way out.
This is a long, honest, and at times very dark conversation. It is also one of genuine resilience.
Timestamps
01:56 Torque Ten — Quickfire Questions with Peter
03:05 What Life Looked Like Before the Lottery Win
03:18 His Mum's Accident, Giving Up Golf, Going Into Bar Work
04:27 Becoming a Cocktail Flair Bartender — When Alcohol Started
06:38 Rinse and Repeat — Getting Clean, Falling Back In
07:02 May 2005 — The Lottery Win With His Mum
07:50 What 5.2 Million Did to a 20-Year-Old Addict
08:20 It Didn't Solve the Problems — It Enhanced Them
09:20 The People Around Him
10:28 The Magaluf Job Offer — and Why the Money Stopped That
11:40 The Most Publicised Lottery Winner
12:55 The Heart Attack at 21
14:30 What Caused It
16:00 The Businesses — Fireworks, Skydiving, Seasonal and Unstable
17:00 How He Got Into Skydiving
21:00 Representing Great Britain — Sponsored, Competing, Still Drinking
23:24 Skydiving as a Dopamine Hit — Same as a Line of Cocaine
24:32 The Culture of Drink and Drugs in Skydiving
26:10 Buying the Drop Zone — Three Days Before COVID Shut Everything Down
27:47 From Zero Debt to 1.7 Million Overnight
28:45 His Partner Leaving the Country
31:35 Very Fortunate Not to Be Locked Up, Dead or Kill Someone
32:20 Rock Bottom — Driving 26 Hours to Resolve the Relationship
35:00 She Didn't Want to Be With Him — That Was the Real Rock Bottom
36:30 The Suicide Attempts
38:00 The Phone Call That Saved Him — A Friend Who Had No Idea
40:20 Getting a Commitment to Go and Have a Meal With Someone
41:00 The Recovery Journey — Bumpy, Non-Linear, Doing It for Her at First
43:15 One Slip in the Caribbean — Then the Moment Everything Changed
44:30 The Tony Robbins Audiobook on the Drive Home
45:18 Change Your Environment, Change Your Life
46:00 Moving to America, Starting Again
47:00 Tony Robbins in His Life — Senior Leader, UPW Events
48:00 Healthy Mindset Rebels — What He's Building Now
50:00 Helping People Design a Healthy Lifestyle Around Food and Body
51:30 Five Years Clean and Sober
52:18 Protecting His Sobriety
53:52 What He'd Say to Anyone Who Wants to Change Their Life
55:22 Dom's Closing Reflection
You can find Peter at
https://www.instagram.com/healthymindsetrebels/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584908998789
https://www.instagram.com/peterjohnmather1984/
https://www.facebook.com/peterjohnmather1984
Resources
If this episode has raised issues for you:
Samaritans — free, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 116 123
Alcoholics Anonymous UK: 0800 9177 650 — alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk
Narcotics Anonymous UK: 0300 999 1212 — ukna.org
CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably): 0800 58 58 58
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