First out gay All Blacks rugby player marries partner in New Zealand

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.

READ MORE OF THIS POST AT Pink News