How the Million Dollar Minute winner plans to spend his money will melt your heart.

Last night, Andrew Skarbek made history.

The 47-year-old Million Dollar Minute contestant won the biggest ever cash prize on Australian television: a whopping $1,016,000.

It’s the kind of money that can make people do crazy things (cough, private helicopter, cough).

But Skarbek, being a man of immense self-control, says he has no plans to splurge on yachts and luxury cars. His first purchase with his winnings was a round-trip to Poland with his mother, who has not visited her home country for fifteen years.

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He is, however, prepared to make some concession to luxury:

“It will be business class all the way for the whole family,” he told Channel 7.

Skarbek made headlines last week after the former business analyst turned down $766,000 to play on for the ultimate prize – without consulting his wife Jenny.

But all’s well that ends well for the Melbourne-based couple, who plan to use their winnings to crack into the housing market.

“He had a goal he set out to achieve, and he did it,” Jenny told News.com.au. “It was hard to watch, but it was completely out of my control. I did a lot of finger crossing and turning away.”

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The win comes at an especially fortuitous time for Skarbek, who received the news that he was to be a contestant on the Channel 7 program only days after doctors gave him the all-clear after a six-month battle with cancer. A portion of his winnings will be used to pay off $50,000 in medical bills.

Despite the good news, Skarbek has no desire for his recent brush with cancer to be exaggerated.

“It was a thing called MALT lymphoma. The doctors said if you have to have it, this is the one you want, because it doesn’t spread throughout your lymph glands,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald. 

“I had protein [intravenous] drips, twice a week, and what I learnt from that was patience and fortitude. Just keep showing up and you’ll get through it. I think that directly applied to the show.”

“When the big yellow tick came up [showing I’d won], it was relief more than anything. It was such a long journey – more Million Dollar Month than Million Dollar Minute.”

Congratulations, Andrew. Any man who spends his money on his mum is well worth a million bucks.

What would you spend a million dollars on?