As a child, radio presenter Ryan Bridge could never have fulfilled his dream of one day saying “yes” to the person he loved.

As a teenager who had not yet acknowledged his homosexuality before coming out as gay, marrying the person he loved was simply out of his reach and he thought it would remain a secret that would last forever.

When he heard the first bars of Chris Isaak’s cover of the Elvis hit “Can’t Stop Falling in Love” in June and walked down the aisle to marry his longtime partner Ferg, it was no surprise that he teared up.

“I just cried and cried,” admits Ryan, 36. “I was a crying mess! When I walked down the aisle, I cried, and when I stood there saying my wedding vows, I cried. It was really emotional and overwhelming.”

“Suddenly I realized that what I never believed was actually happening. And the relief that we did it… We are here to do what once seemed impossible and we can enjoy it.”

In front of 110 of their closest friends and family – including Ryan’s former colleagues Paddy Gower, Melissa Chan-Green and Tova O’Brien – at the majestic Duke of Marlborough Hotel in Russell, their wedding marked the beginning of a happy new chapter for the couple.

“We didn’t write vows to each other because I think that’s a bit cheesy, but our good friend and celebrant, James Barr from Loveworks, wrote vows for us,” says Ryan.

“James has been studying the subject in depth since I started Weekly about falling in love and little details of our relationship, so he read that out at the ceremony as well.”

Even though the wedding was two weeks ago, when the Weekly Ryan meets up with him, sheepishly admitting he’s a little unclear about the day’s details, and texts his husband of 37 years, who prefers to stay out of the spotlight, to confirm his wedding songs. What needs no explanation, however, is what a “bloody amazing party” it was and what a joy it was to commit to the man he loves on June 27th.

They held hands and wiped more tears from their eyes—okay, just Ryan’s!—and vowed to always support each other.

It was also something of a “last hurrah” for the Newshub family before the network closed.

“Ferg and I agreed that we had to make it a damn good celebration. My siblings, who are heterosexual and not yet married, gave our parents grandchildren but no wedding.

“So it was like, ‘This is the only thing we can offer’ and I think we’ve done that. The Duke of Marlborough’s slogan is ‘Serving rogues and villains since 1827’ – yes, that’s us!”

The picture-perfect day began with the couple taking a peaceful morning stroll along Russell’s stunning waterfront, before heading off separately to get ready.

“We had TV3’s hair and make-up artists Katie Fell and Josie Wignall with us, so it felt like I was about to go on an AM show. They calmed me down well,” he says.

He then took the arm of his proud mother Mary, while Ferg stood beside him holding the arm of his mother Viv, and they all walked down the steps to the aisle. After giving their mothers a kiss on the cheek, they held hands and walked to the altar together.

“It was just beautiful,” says Ryan, who was also joined by his three witnesses – former news anchor Mike McRoberts, his younger brother Sean and his best friend from high school, Chris. “We didn’t want one of us to be ‘given away’ and the other to stand there waiting like the groom.”

Thanks to his handsome friend’s impeccable style, Ryan wore a white tuxedo by Crane Brothers, while Ferg wore an ensemble by New Zealand designer World.

Bridesmaids, including Ferg’s sister, wore silver sequined dresses, which gave the day an additional midwinter ball feel.

“As soon as we said ‘I do’ and kissed, our wedding party had secretly prepared a song. They sang We are a family. Mike – never afraid to take a moment! – started things off and everyone else joined in.

“Ferg’s sister, who is incredibly talented, played the baby grand piano at the Duke while we signed the register on the piano.”

The day culminated in a fun reception hosted by Mike, who welcomed guests with a short mihi whakatau (a welcoming speech, similar to a pōwhiri but less formal).

“And then he basically made fun of me for 10 minutes in his speech,” laughs Ryan. “He was merciless, but hilarious!”

“Mike is like US President Joe Biden, he repeats the same joke multiple times. He kept saying, ‘As soon as you announced your new news show, the network collapsed.’ My retort was, ‘When I went off the air, everything collapsed!’

“Then my younger brother Sean spoke. He did a great job and was so nervous. Beforehand he had said he was scared to speak in front of all those ‘flashy TV and radio people.’

“He just cried, just like me, and then everyone cried. We know that from our mother, who cries when she sees a bank advertisement!”

One of the most moving moments of the day was when Ryan’s 87-year-old grandmother Pam gave a speech.

As a teenager, Waikanae-born Ryan often spent weekends with his beloved grandmother, and he credits her passion for politics with sparking his career in political journalism.

“Grandma talked about my childhood. She said how happy she was to be there and how much she loved me and Ferg. She got a standing ovation from everyone.”

The newlyweds then danced the night away and celebrated the day, which they both described as “the best day of our lives.”

The only loved one who couldn’t make it to the wedding was Fanny, the couple’s beagle. Ryan explains: “Russell has a lot of native birds and we didn’t want any incidents!”

When Ryan reflects on their love story, he says that marriage was always important to Ferg, who works in construction, but it wasn’t that important to him.

“Thank God Ferg brought it up,” he says. “I mean, he never pushed me into it – I just knew he wanted to.” (Ryan proposed to me last year during a camping weekend.)

“After doing it, I can’t imagine it any other way,” beams the former TV breakfast presenter. “Marriage takes what you already have to a new level. For a long time we couldn’t have married. And now I feel completely safe and on the same wavelength, and we are so in love with each other.”

Before the wedding, they spent a month honeymooning in Europe. The couple took in the sights of London, Berlin and Greece. They left before their wedding because Ryan started his new role as host of Newstalk ZB’s Early Edition show from 5am to 6am a week after their wedding.

If he is with the WeeklyRyan is in his new role, getting up at 2:40 a.m. He says it’s been a rollercoaster, but he’s loving learning the radio skills again, as it’s been three years since he was a presenter on (the now-defunct station) Magic Talk.

“After the wedding I went to NZME (owner of Newstalk ZB) and shadowed breakfast presenter Mike Hosking. He does Early Edition after taking over from his wife Kate Hawkesby.

“I was a little nervous when I first met Mike, but he was nice. He doesn’t like small talk, which suits me very well. I asked him, ‘Do you have five minutes to discuss a few things?’ and he said, ‘Yeah, fine, let’s go.’

“He was really generous with advice. Then I contacted Kate, who has played the role for nearly five years and knows the format and the audience inside out. We spoke on the phone and she asked me for advice, so I felt very welcome and supported.”

He compares the one-hour show to “news with a pinch of cheek.”

He explains: “We get all the international news from one day to the next. There are lots of exciting stories and we get to be the first to tell them to everyone. Every morning the producers turn it into a 35-minute podcast in case people want to listen to it later.”

Mike is a known “clean freak” and Ryan admits to being messy. What are the signs so far?

“I’m just taking my newspaper and lemon water. How much damage can I do in an hour? But there’s that Dyson vacuum cleaner in the corner staring at me!”

When Ryan said goodbye to AM in December, he was preparing to launch his 7 p.m. news show Bridge earlier this year before Warner Bros. Discovery announced job cuts.

“It was over for me in February,” he says. “But I moved on mentally pretty quickly because I stopped going to the office.”

Ryan hasn’t disappeared from our screens entirely, though. While still working on AM, Ryan was approached for a cameo as a newsreader in the new TV comedy series Madam (episodes will be shown on ThreeNow), starring Rachel Griffiths and Martin Henderson.

“I was a little scared because I had never acted or been on a film set before,” he says. “But it was so much fun and the cast and crew were all really cool.”

Lead actress Rachel plays McKenzie Leigh, who, faced with the problems of her unfaithful husband and her debts, opens a brothel in a small town in New Zealand to support her family.

“It’s really funny,” says Ryan. “My role is in episode five, where I do a live interview with people protesting against a brothel in their neighborhood.”

“My interactions with the audience ended with a disturbing sex scene, though,” he laughs. “There’s your headline: ‘Former AM presenter returns to X-rated TV!'”

Rapid fire

Have you received congratulatory messages from politicians?

Nothing from Winnie or Luxie, but I got one from Maurice Williamson. He said, “Congratulations on your wedding, well done. I was a strong supporter of gay marriage. After 50 years of marriage, I’m not sure I’m still a supporter of straight marriage. Haha.”

Who was the most relaxed on the dance floor?

Sarah Bristow (former Newshub Director of News). She was absolutely wild. Close behind was my mum who definitely let loose, which was great to see.

The most thoughtful wedding gift?

Our best man James gave us an empty wine box. Then my dad brought a bottle of wine and Ferg’s dad brought a bottle of wine. Then they put them both in the box and sealed it. They told us to open it on our first wedding anniversary to toast and remember what that day meant to us and always try to come back to it.