Corner Forward’s Sister Flying in to take his Place on National Lottery Game Show
Siblings Will Be on RTE One and RTE Two at Same Time
The sister of a footballer from Co. Kerry will fly into Ireland this weekend to go on the National Lottery’s Winning Streak TV game show on RTÉ One this Saturday (19th October) after his name was selected to appear on the show on the very same day he had to play an important game.
When Michael Foley from Killarney, Co. Kerry got the call to say his name had been pulled out to appear on Winning Streak, last Saturday, he was overcome with excitement. The next morning another call came through which put a spanner in the works. He discovered that his club’s Kerry Senior Football Championship quarter-final had been scheduled for the same day! Michael (22) had a big decision to make – play in his big match for East Kerry versus Dingle or go on Winning Streak.
After a bit of thought, corner forward Michael was never going to let his side down and will line out for East Kerry for the big game, which will be broadcast on the same time as Winning Streak. Michael’s older sister Melissa will be flying in from London to take his place in the Winning Streak hot seat!
The first thing Melissa (28) did last Saturday evening, when she found out that Michael was going to be on the hit game show, was to book a flight to Ireland so she could cheer him on from the studio audience. Now she is going to do her brother a good turn and play the game in his place. It will be a Foley sibling takeover on RTÉ as RTÉ Two will broadcast the game live, while at the same time Winning Streak will be on RTÉ One.
It will certainly be a flying visit for Melissa who will fly over on Friday evening and will return to London on Sunday afternoon. She has lived in London for the past four and a half years, since she moved over with her boyfriend Shane, since she left Killarney after college. She works as a Cancer Nurse Specialist in St. George’s Hospital in London.
While Michael, who also works at Lee Strand Milk Co-op in Tralee will be busy preparing for his game and is happy to leave the Winning Streak focus on his sister. Melissa will be supported in the audience by their parents Helen and Mike (Snr) and other members of family and close friends.
As for plans with his winnings from the show, Michael said: “To be honest, I haven’t given it a single thought as I am focusing on the big game. I know Melissa will do the family proud and I’m grateful for her stepping in in my hour of need! Regardless we will have a celebration on Saturday after the show and game is done.”
Michael has only returned to Ireland in May this year after two years of travelling around Australia. He played football when he was in Australia and played for Penrith Gaels in Sydney and Garryowen in Melbourne while he was living away from home.
The National Lottery game show is co-presented by Marty Whelan and Sinead Kennedy and features some perennial favorite games including Play or Pay, Roll for Riches, WinFall and Electric Dream – where one player will win an electric car worth €25,000.
As ever one of the lucky five players will get the chance to spin the wheel and win up to €500,000. An exciting element of the show is that one €100,000 segment will be added to the Grand Prize Wheel every show if less than that amount was won in the previous show, improving players chances to win a massive prize.
A brand new-look Winning Streak scratch card is available in the 5,900 National Lottery retailers all over the country. In addition to the chance to appear on the Winning Streak TV game show if you get three stars, players will also be in with a chance to win some great cash prizes up to €5,000. The odds for those who purchase a Winning Streak to win is 1 in 1.86 to win a cash or three star prize. All players who purchase a scratch card can send their stubs into the National Lottery using grey envelopes, available in all National Lottery agents, where each week on the show, a player will be drawn as the winner of a Luxury Cruise for two valued at €5,000.
Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on Winning Streak and all National Lottery games goes back to Good Causes in the areas of sport, youth, health, welfare, education, arts, heritage and the Irish Language. In total more than €5.4 Billion has been raised for Good Causes since the National Lottery was established 32 years ago. In 2018 alone, more than €228 million was raised; the equivalent of almost €625,000 a day in support for local Good Causes in communities across Ireland.
