Powerball was 4.
It comes on the same day as New Zealand mourned the death of former co-host Marise Wipani.
Lotto host Sonia Gray tonight paid tribute before the draw to remember the former co-host.
“Before we begin, we’d like to take a moment to remember the wonderful Marise Wipani, a former presenter here on Lotto. Our love and thoughts are with her whānau at this time.”
Wipani, an actor and former Miss Universe New Zealand runner-up, died yesterday on her 61st birthday surrounded by family and friends.
Wipani co-hosted Lotto alongside Doug Harvey as well as appearing in episodes of shows such as Shortland Street, Xena: Warrior Princess and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
She also featured in classic Kiwi film Came a Hot Friday, her first film role.
The role in the hit comedy came after she was runner-up in the Miss New Zealand pageant to Lorraine Downes, who would go on to win Miss Universe 1983.
After years as the country’s “Lotto Lady” and jobs here and abroad in TV, film and theatre, Wipani was in 2011 appearing in various productions while also working in a cafe.
“I wish I was rich and I wish I’d listened when people told me to save my money. But I was like, ‘yeah, yeah, yeah’ and then didn’t do anything … it’s been fun.”
Powerball wins in 2025
New Zealand has had nine major Powerball wins across the country this year.
In January, a Wellington Lotto player won $7m and a Taranaki player pocketed $8.3m in the same month.
A Hamilton player and a Waihī player each picked up $10.5m from Powerball wins in February.
There were three lucky Powerball multimillionaires in March, with wins in Christchurch, Dunedin and Port Chalmers.
An Auckland couple were in a celebratory mood after winning more than $23m in a draw last month.
Last month a Porirua grandmother won a life-changing $17.2m with Lotto Powerball.
The woman was walking with her grandson when she decided to stop at the Whitby New World to buy her ticket for that night’s draw.
“It was purely because I was out with him that I remembered to get my ticket that day – he’s the reason I stopped and bought it.
“He’s too young to understand, but I’ve told him every day since that I love him 17.2 million times.”
It made her the ninth Powerball multimillionaire this year.
