First out gay All Blacks rugby player marries partner in New Zealand
Campbell Johnstone has married his partner Ben Thomas (Campbell Johnstone/PinkNews)
Former professional rugby player Campbell Johnstone – the first All Blacks player to come out – has wed his partner Ben Thomson in New Zealand.
Johnstone came out as gay in 2023 in an interview on TVNZ’s Seven Sharp, saying he wanted to “take away the pressure” from coming out and admitting he had found it “hard living a double life”.
Speaking to New Zealand’s best-selling women’s magazine Woman’s Day about their special day, Johnstone, 44, and Thomson, 37, said it was not a traditional affair and revealed that they secretly tied the knot prior to the celebration with family and friends at The Flaxmill in the South Island town of Oxford.
“Nobody knew what was going on. Even the groomspeople and our families didn’t know” Johnstone said.
“We had a day with just the two of us, when photographers videoed and photographed us getting ready together in a hotel. Then we went out to Castle Hill Station and held our ceremony on top of a mountain,” Thomson explained.
“It was literally just us, the two photographers and the videographer on that hill, so it was quite cool. We didn’t even have a celebrant.”
Johnstone added: “We also thought it should be a moment just for us. That was really special because we just got to enjoy the day together.”
The pair projected the video of their mountain-top nuptials on to a big screen at the wedding, which some people thought was live.
“We meant it to look like we came straight from the video,” Johnstone said. “I think some people thought it was live.”
Johnstone went on to say his favourite part of the day was his sister’s speech, which he described as “very emotional”, whilst Thomson said his was when the two of them snuck away from the party for 10 minutes to eat a plate of food together.
“While the guests mingled and enjoyed the dessert, we managed to sneak up a hill outside to enjoy a plate of food and just be alone for 10 minutes. We watched over the whole scene and stole a moment for ourselves. That has to have been one of my favourite parts of the day,” he said.
During the course of the celebration, unlimited cocktails alongside canapés, pasta station and steak with a night club opened up in a dark room in the venue at 10.30pm where a rave was hosted.
“With all the black light, it was just like this big, glowing jungle. We also had saxophonist Michael Gordon in there, who was playing alongside the DJ, which was really cool,” Thomas said.
Discussing where they might like to go for their honeymoon, Thomson said they were considering a luxury safari in South Africa.
“We’ll just be travelling, eating, drinking and enjoying each other’s company,” Johnstone said.
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