A transgender taxi driver and self-confessed social media extrovert is planning her dream wedding after scooping £4 million on a scratchcard.

Melissa Ede – who is well-known in Hull for her off-the-wall online videos and appearances on day-time TV shows – said she became “Mel the millionaire” just days after her partner asked her to marry her with a Christmas proposal.

Miss Ede, 57, says she and paranormal investigator Rachel Nason, 37, have now ditched their modest plans for a small register office event for a full-on spectacular.

“It’ll be a fantastic wedding,” she said.

“At the end of the day, Melissa Ede does everything differently so my wedding will be done differently.”

She said: “I’m not Melissa Ede the taxi driver any more, I’m Mel the millionaire.

“Just because I’m a rich bitch doesn’t stop me being the crazy bitch I’ve always been.”

Miss Ede vowed to continue with her media antics, which have seen her post a range of unusual video clips about her life, which have been viewed hundreds of thousands of times, and also appear on programmes like The Jeremy Kyle Show.

She said the win and her engagement had made Christmas special for the first time in her life.

“Christmases being young were a sad time because I was always getting the presents of a little boy and things like that and I didn’t want them,” she said.

“Christmas so far in my life has been a terrible time and now every day’s Christmas.”

She said Ms Nason, who did not join her for a press call near her home in Hull, gave her an engagement ring just after Christmas and she now had a chance to given her one too.

Taxi driver Melissa Ede celebrates the win
Taxi driver Melissa Ede celebrates the win (John Giles/PA)

She explained how she had the transition operation seven years ago and now wants to write a book about her “extraordinary life”.

Miss Ede described how she had £20 when she went to a garage in Hull to buy fuel for her taxi.

After spending £8.91 on diesel, she could not decide whether to buy cigarettes or the £10 National Lottery Blue Scratchcard.

“I don’t know why but this £10 scratchcard actually jumped at me,” she said.

Miss Ede said she had hoped to win £100 to make up for taking off New Year’s Eve for the first time in 25 years because she wanted to be with her new fiancee.

She described how she worked up to 15 hours a day in her rented Ford Mondeo taxi to make ends meet and lived in one room in a shared house.

She said: “These dreams that I’ve always had now are a reality.”

Miss Ede said she does not see any of her four children and her parents, who both died recently, disowned her 12 years ago.

She said: “The transgender fight to where I am now has been a difficult path.

“I received my operation almost seven years ago and I am really proud of who I am today.”