Campbell Johnstone, the first openly gay All Black, and partner Ben Thomson have tied the knot.
In an interview with Woman’s Day, 44-year-old Johnstone and 37-year-old Thomson shared details about their wedding celebration held recently in front of 165 guests in Oxford.
During the traditional celebration, the couple projected a video onto the big screen revealing they had actually secretly wed in a private ceremony back in October.
“Nobody knew what was going on,” Johnstone told Woman’s Day. “Even the groomspeople and our families didn’t know.”
Thomson added: “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.”
The following week, the couple had met their wedding planner in a Christchurch bar to sign their official marriage certificate.
“We also thought it should be a moment just for us. That was really special because we just got to enjoy the day together,” Johnstone said.
Images from the wedding celebration showed the couple being flown in on a helicopter by former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw.
Johnstone played three All Blacks tests in 2005 and made 72 appearances for Canterbury and 38 for the Crusaders.
He publicly came out in January 2023 and received national and global praise, including from fellow All Blacks and the New Zealand Rugby community.
At the time, he told Seven Sharp about how liberating it felt, and what prevented him from doing it sooner.
“Within myself, I was never comfortable with the whole concept and my dream was to be an All Black… My view of an All Black was manly, strong, possibly with a wife and kids,” he told Hilary Barry, explaining why he did not come out during his playing days in 2005.
Johnstone and Thomson announced on social media that they were “incredibly happy” to be engaged in July, 2023 after the couple travelled to Cappadocia, Turkey where Thomson popped the question.
