ALL BLACK CAMPBELL & HUSBAND BEN 'OUR LOVE IS STRONGER THAN EVER!'

A year on from their headline-grabbing wedding, the rugby star and his partner have transformed their lives

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When former All Black Campbell Johnstone and the love of his life Ben Thomson wed in a beautiful Canterbury Plains ceremony almost 12 months ago, they thought their first year of marriage would be all about eating, drinking, hanging out with friends and adopting a dog they knew they'd call Bruce.

But what the 45-year-old prop didn't expect was that he'd be supporting his husband, a former professional horse rider, to become a medal-winning bodybuilder.

“Not only to get on stage in a pair of Speedos, but to also remember a full choreographed routine is really quite a lot to do,” grins Campbell. “I was just so proud of the way he rose to the occasion because I knew he'd put 100% in.”

That commitment saw Ben, 38, take home the Amateur Men's Fitness category silver medal in the recent FMG International NZ 2025 competition - a journey that required him to get very strict on what he was eating, stop socialising, and increase the frequency and intensity of his workouts with his trainer.

Ben explains, “Initially I went along thinking, 'It'll be good for my training.' Then my plan was to pull out closer to the time because there was no way I was going to get on stage in front of all those people in a tiny pair of Speedos!”

However, with the competition looming, Ben realised he couldn't back out and thanks to Campbell's encouragement, he decided to give it a real go.

“He got more comfortable wearing his Speedos,” says Campbell. “When he got up on stage, he didn't look out of place at all! He really fronted up to that fear, which is more than admirable. He was just incredible.”