Former Pro Rugby Player Campbell Johnstone Married His Husband in Secret

Campbell Johnstone – a former rugby pro who played for the All Blacks team – came out in 2023, making him the first openly gay member of the team. In October 2024, he married his husband, Ben Thomson, in secret, not announcing their elopement until they threw a celebratory bash with friends and family, Australian newspaper the Star Observer said.

The onetime All Blacks prop, who played with the team in 2005, coordinated the secret ceremony (which was captured on video) with the party such that "some people thought it was live," the Star Observer reported.

"We meant it to look like we came straight from the video," Johnstone explained.

The former pro player described the secret wedding and subsequent celebration to Women's Day, telling the magazine that the ceremony was such a closely guarded secret that "Nobody knew what was going on. Even the groomspeople and our families didn't know."

The marriage took place at "The Flaxmill in the New Zealand South Island town of Oxford," UK newspaper the Daily Mail detailed, with the grooms being "choppered in by All Blacks icon Richie McCaw."

The super-intimate nuptials were part of "a day with just the two of us, when photographers videoed and photographed us getting ready together in a hotel," Johnstone recounted. "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, so it was quite cool. We didn't even have a celebrant."

The surprise video at the celebration was only part of the equation. The rest was meant just for the two committed husbands, the athlete said, calling the occasion "really special because we just got to enjoy the day together."

Even at the ceremony, the lovebirds managed a quick flyaway for some alone time, the Mail related.

"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," Johnstone regaled.

"Johnstone came out as gay in 2023, having previously revealed his sexuality only to family and close friends, and said his decision to publicly announce the news stemmed from a desire to destigmatize homosexuality and encourage acceptance in rugby," the Mail recalled.

Congratulations to the happy couple!