CHICAGO (WGN) A lucky Illinois iLottery player is making his wife’s dreams come true after he snagged a jackpot worth more than $2.5 million on a Fast Play game.

The big winner hit the $2.66 million jackpot prize while playing Ultimate Diamond Jackpot on the Illinois Lottery app, a progressive Fast Play game that offers players the chance at a jackpot that starts at $75,000 and climbs each time a ticket is sold statewide, online and in-store.

The newly minted millionaire said he snagged the jackpot prize while sitting at home watching TV with his wife, who is his high school sweetheart, and the big win caught him off guard.

“My wife and I had just sat down to watch one of our favorite TV shows, and I opened my Illinois Lottery app at the same time to play the Fast Play Ultimate Diamond Jackpot game. However, I got distracted by the TV show and didn’t pay much attention to my app. Next thing I knew, I looked at my phone and it said I won the $2,661,339 jackpot,” the jackpot winner said.

Officials from the Illinois Lottery shared details about the big win on Saturday morning but did not disclose the name of the winner or the date of the win, but said it happened between Jan. 1 and Jan. 10.

“When I realized I won the jackpot, my jaw dropped and I gasped. My wife looked at me and asked, ‘Are you OK? What’s wrong?’” the winner said. “I told her we hit the jackpot. She simply said ‘Yeah, right,’ but then I showed her my phone as the prize amount popped up on the screen — she couldn’t believe it. We are still both in shock and disbelief!”

The lucky lotto player said thanks to the prize, his wife will finally be able to retire.

“We are high school sweethearts. We’ve been married for 36 years, and have been working for nearly as long. My wife has been eager to retire, and when I realized we won, the first thing I told her was, ‘This is meant to be — it’s time for you to retire, enjoy life, and pursue your dreams’,” the winner said.

The lucky player’s wife, however, said she could barely believe the life-changing jackpot.

“It feels so exciting, although I am still in shock and the reality of the win hasn’t sunk in just yet. I’m looking forward to enjoying time at our lake house, spending more time with our children and grandkids, and trying out some new hobbies,” the big winner’s wife said.

After taxes, the winner will take home about $1,889,930, which means they’ll pay about $638,400 in federal taxes and about $131,670 in state taxes, according to TaxAct’s Lottery Tax Calculator.

Ultimate Diamond Jackpot costs $30 per ticket and players have a one in 2.69 chance of winning a prize, but jackpot odds are much higher at one in 240,0000.

The lucky lotto player claimed just one of the more than 292,000 winning Fast Play tickets that have been sold so far this year, which have netted players more than $5.3 million in prizes.

Fast Play Winners have one year from the date of winning to claim their prizes.