by Christian Duque
The world of bodybuilding and fitness has come together to celebrate one of the most iconic events not only of 2025 but of the last few years. When was the last time there was a wedding on this level? Chris Bumstead is arguably the most popular physique-based athlete in the world. He has won the classic physique Olympia more times than anyone in the history of the title. And if he had continued competing there really isn’t anybody that could have defeated him. Courtney King is also a celebrated physique-based athlete having won a slew of titles and received top honors throughout the world. Her biggest win of course was in 2016 when she won the bikini Olympia and set herself up as one of the division’s major superstars for years to come.
Regardless of what division you win the Olympia in, you are part of a club of elite level athletes that everybody wants to know and everybody wants to work with. These two fitness industry superstars get mobbed wherever they go but at some point I believe it was time for them to make a transition. I will say that I didn’t think Chris was going to retire anytime soon. Why would he? The level of dominance that he exhibited over his fellow competitors was something almost unheard of. We had never seen anything like that in classic physique. In fact, we hadn’t seen anything like that in bodybuilding since the days of Ronnie Coleman. No disrespect to Jay, or Phil, or the current top guys, but the dominance that I’m talking about is the kind of dominance that only guys like Ronnie Coleman, Lee Haney, and maybe Arnold had. I’m skipping over Dorian, I’m skipping over Jay, I’m skipping over even some pretty big name multi-year champions. But again the level of dominance was that undeniable. But even still there was a point in time when competing no longer had the same rush that it did before. Now it all sort of makes sense.
Pictures of the wedding went viral all over social media, from Instagram to Tiktok to X and of course Facebook. Everybody has been wondering what the next chapter of Chris Bumstead’s career will hold. He has a piece of a supplement company, he works with clothing companies, and of course his presence in the fitness industry will forever be a matter of record. One thing that I think CBum learned from some of the big names that have re-emerged in the sport, it’s that you don’t have to leave even if you’re no longer actively competing anymore. That was a mistake that was made by a lot of guys in the 90s and early 2000s. They had created a tremendous fan base for themselves but once they hung up the trunks they figured they should move on to acting or entrepreneurship or maybe going back to college for a new career. All of these things are fine, but they were done because there wasn’t really much left for competitors to do who were no longer competing.
With Bumstead however, I think it’s become abundantly clear that he is bigger in my opinion than the division he competed in. He doesn’t need to compete in order to be relevant and he certainly doesn’t need to compete in order to make any kind of money. At least not any kind of real money. The real money is made by his name and likeness. Anytime the guy opens his mouth, it’s almost like you can hear cash registers ringing in the background. Whatever the guy says is going to make money. Whatever the guy wears is going to make money. Whatever the guy uses as a supplement is going to make money.
But without getting sidetracked by Chris’s star power or the dominance of his physique, let’s talk about the wedding. The couple looked phenomenal. You can tell that they both spent a considerable amount of time on the gowns and the suits. The other thing that I really like about it is the fact that they didn’t go the trashy route. This was not supposed to be a carnival-type marriage. There weren’t supposed to be bells and whistles and bull horns and elephants and giraffes. It was very conservative but at the same time very artistic and very romantic. Some of the photos that have been released all over social media show a couple that is madly in love, and who are ready to spend the rest of their lives together.
Sometimes it’s not what you say but what you see. The photos were absolutely amazing. I think it’s important not only for these two fitness stars but it’s also very important for the rest of the sport. In a very real way, I believe that Chris continues to be a very powerful role model not just for the classic physique division but for physique sports in general. I think that even though he is no longer competing and even though he is not in the running for the 2025 Olympia, he continues to be the face of the division and a major force of the sport.
I also think that it’s important that people look at the example that he has set. It’s okay to consider retirement. And it’s okay to actually retire. For a lot of guys it’s a fleeting thought that sometimes makes its way onto an interview or on to some kind of a social media post, but they seldom if ever actually do it. It’s a very scary and a very daunting prospect for a lot of folks. Especially folks that maybe don’t have a career to fall back on or started competing at a very young age. This may be all they know, so they drive the car until the wheels fall off. Chris, however, is showing them an alternative path.
I also think it’s very important for the fans to see. Because a lot of bodybuilding fans tend to adopt some of the sport’s antisocial tendencies. A lot of bodybuilding fans train in dungeons and are usually single, maybe they have a dog, but really are not capable of having a meaningful relationship. They are far too obsessed with the weights and the pursuit of the perfect physique. Maybe on some level they want what Chris and Courtney have, but they just don’t have the discipline to want something like that for themselves. Maybe they don’t think they’re good enough or maybe they don’t think it’s in the cards for them. Whatever the case may be, I think that this type of union brings a tremendous amount of self reflection – not just amongst competitors – but among fans as well. Because fans unfortunately tend to become just as obsessed with the muscle game as competitors do.
Competitors do it because they want to go pro and they want to go all the way to the top and fans do it because they’re just as obsessed with the sport as the heroes they look up to. All in all it’s okay to hit that pause button, and it’s also ok to hit that stop button. There’s a whole other world outside of bodybuilding.
With the wedding now over, it’s not like we have lost a major star, we still have these major stars to look up to individually, but we also have them as a couple. In a very real way this may be the power couple of 2025 and maybe the power couple of the decade. When is the last time that a wedding got this much attention in the sport of bodybuilding? Honestly, I can’t think of one. Maybe back in the ’80s when Samir married Lee Labrada’s sister but there was no social media back then. And I don’t think that anybody really cared all that much about it. Honestly I’m drawing a blank. Perhaps some of the loyal readers of IronMag can enlighten me.
The truth of the matter is this wedding was a one of a kind type situation. Maybe this is not just the biggest wedding in bodybuilding history but the only wedding of this magnitude in bodybuilding history. And that’s fine. Let it be the first of its kind and let it be perhaps the only of its kind for years to come. I think that what is going to come out of this wedding in addition to a very happy married couple is a very happy family, and positive vibes for countless competitors and countless fans that have never thought that something like this could be for them.
I’d like to send a huge congratulatory message from everyone here at IronMag to the happy couple. I know that Chris Bumstead and Courtney King will be very happy in their life together and will continue to inspire countless individuals to lift weights, eat clean, but also consider marriage and family for themselves. These are important priorities to have.
As always, thank you for reading my article. I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Please copy and paste a link to this article on all of your social media feeds. It is guaranteed to generate lively conversation.
