Former All Blacks pro-rugby star Campbell Johnstone marries partner Ben Thomson
Former professional rugby player Campbell Johnstone is officially off the market. On 15 January, the 45-year-old athlete – who made history as the first openly gay All Blacks player – and his partner Ben Thomson announced their marriage in a spread for the New Zealand-based publication Woman’s Day.
The ceremony – which was held at The Flaxmill in Oxford, New Zealand –kicked off with the lovebirds arriving in a helicopter piloted by Johnstone’s rugby peer Richie McCaw. “Richie did this really steep loop around the property, and I lost my stomach a bit,” Thomson told the publication. “Then he landed, and we got out.
Our parents congratulated us, people swarmed to take photos, then the wedding kind of kicked off from there.” While most couples say their vows during a ceremony attended by family and friends, Johnstone and Thomson took a private approach to the romantic exchange. “We had a day with just the two of us, when photographers videoed and photographed us getting ready together in a hotel,” Thomson explained. “Then we went out to Castle Hill Station and held our ceremony on top of a mountain.
It was literally just us, the two photographers and the videographer on that hill… we didn’t even have a celebrant.” Johnstone added: “We also thought it should be a moment just for us.
