Former All Black Campbell Johnstone and husband Ben celebrate one year of marriage

Campbell didn’t expect he’d be supporting his husband to become a medal-winning bodybuilder. Photo / Eva Bradley

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.

A year on from their headline-grabbing wedding, the rugby star and his partner have transformed their lives. Photo / Amour Weddings

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.”

Ben reflects, “The posing on stage was a lot harder than I expected. I was having lessons three days a week online and one with a guy at my gym. The exhaustion is almost worse than that of a workout. You literally have to concentrate on tensing every muscle in your body at the same time, while smiling and making it look easy, then hold that for 10 minutes in all these different poses.”

Campbell continues, “He looked like he was really enjoying himself on stage, but that may have just been the training and the posing!”

Ben realised he couldn’t back out of the competition, and thanks to Campbell’s encouragement, he decided to give it a real go. Photo / Dallas Olsen

With Ben’s regime seeing him cut out carbs in the final and most challenging month before the competition, it has meant the devoted newlyweds haven’t had a lot of time to enjoy their original plans of eating and drinking together.

“My workouts were about an hour and a half long, six days a week, as well as half an hour on the stepper, plus 10,000 steps daily,” shares Ben. “It would often be midday by the time I did all my training.”

Campbell recalls, “Everyone warned me to be prepared for when the carbs cut out, with the mood swings and everything that comes with that, but to be honest, he didn’t have any of that. I was quite amazed at his dedication to the entire process and felt proud of him – especially because I knew it was really tough for him with the lack of socialising.”

Ben explains, “I’m really social and love going out with people, so not being able to do that was a big challenge. I’d go out and everyone would say, ‘One drink won’t hurt,’ but it would. Or sometimes they’d go the other way and be really nice, offering their kitchens for me to cook my own meals in, but I’d just feel like an inconvenience. It was easier to stay home.”

Luckily, staying in was easy, thanks to the new addition to their family, Bruce the Great Dane.

Campbell Johnstone and Ben Thomson with Bruce the Great Dane. Photo / Eva Bradley

“Bruce is pretty much the biggest thing to have changed in our lives since our wedding,” Campbell reflects, crediting his husband for their pup’s party tricks. “Ben’s horse-training days have massively come in handy. He’s been doing a pretty good job keeping Bruce in line and everything in order. If it was left to me, it would be an absolute shambles here!”

Ben – who can be seen showing off a range of impressive tricks with Bruce on the pup’s personal Instagram account, @sirbrucethedane – confides, “Everyone we talked to who’d ever had anything to do with Great Danes only says what amazing dogs they are.

“Once we knew we wanted one, we had already decided he was going to be called Bruce. We always knew we wanted a boy, so he was Bruce for about six months before we even knew who Bruce was.”

It’s safe to say the pooch has slotted into Ben and Campbell’s lives almost perfectly, with the rugby player clearly the softer one of the parenting duo.

The pooch has slotted into Ben and Campbell’s lives almost perfectly. Photo / Eva Bradley

“Bruce gets away with everything when he’s with me,” muses Campbell.

Thankfully, Ben’s strength training has also come in handy because he’s able to carry Bruce, who’s growing at 2kg a week, up and down from their bedroom every day.

“We live in a two-storey house and we sleep upstairs,” explains Campbell.

“Obviously Bruce has to sleep with us, but his breed isn’t supposed to go up or down the stairs at a young age – he’s still not allowed to. He’s getting very heavy very quickly, though, so Ben’s now carrying him up and down the stairs.

“It’s funny because people who’ve owned Great Danes say you can literally see them grow. Before we got him, I sort of thought, ‘That’s got to be rubbish!’ But they couldn’t be more right!”

While the love of Bruce has strengthened their tight bond, the pair won’t be able to spend their first anniversary together – they’re busy juggling weddings at The Flaxmill, a venue Ben manages, with work on the Global Games, a junior rugby festival, and planning an African safari for their honeymoon next year.

Meanwhile, Ben is tossing up whether he’ll compete in bodybuilding once more, with trainer Hadi Khodabandehloo of 3DimensionsFitness.

“The only reason I’d do it again is because I’m so competitive that I want to win,” he confesses. “In the world championships recently, the competitor who came third behind me placed second, so I’ll give it about a year or so, then see if I have the drive to go through it all again.”