The relationship between fired Indiana meteorologist Alex Kerkhove and her mentor, veteran WTWO chief meteorologist Jesse Walker, is drawing fresh scrutiny after anonymous station employees claimed the pair were “attached at the hip” and described their bond as “very creepy.”
Employees at the Nexstar-owned Terre Haute station told industry newsletter FTVLive that Walker, 60, took an unusually keen interest in Kerkhove even before she joined WTWO following her graduation from Purdue University, alleging the two “chatted regularly” before she was hired and later became “obsessed with each other.”
“During her time at channel 2, her job was Weekend Meteorologist/Reporter, and she was only doing half of that job,” one station insider told FTVLive.
“When she wasn’t doing weather, she was attached to Jesse at the hip, and this would go on even after her shift would end.”
Another source cited by the newsletter claimed Kerkhove also came into the station when she was not scheduled to work, went to dinner with Walker on her days off and frequently accompanied him on outside shoots.
FTVLive also highlighted a painting that an insider said Kerkhove gave Walker five months after meeting him — a gift Walker later posted about on social media.
One insider characterized the present as something a person might receive from a romantic partner and asked whether it was normal between a mentor and protégée.
FTVLive stressed that it had “no clue about the relationship between Kerkhove and Walker,” but said several people inside WTWO viewed it as different from the professional relationship they expected.
The allegations surfaced weeks after Kerkhove’s abrupt departure drew an outpouring of support from WTWO viewers.
Kerkhove announced on Facebook in June that she had been told it was her last day at WTWO after management “did not see a future” for her at the station.
She said the station deleted her professional Facebook account, so she announced her departure on her personal weather page.
Kerkhove later returned to social media with a lengthy narrative about what she said happened during her year at WTWO.
She claimed managers told her she could speak with Walker for only 15 to 20 minutes while they were working because “they watch the security camera.”
Kerkhove also alleged she was barred from posting on WTWO’s Facebook page about events or festivals she attended on her days off with station employees, was moved away from on-air weather duties shortly after being hired and was limited to four hours of work during a severe-weather outbreak despite volunteering to help.
According to Kerkhove, after management learned she had received a contingent job offer elsewhere, managers asked what they could do to persuade her to stay and requested that she put her concerns in writing.
She said management then rejected all of her requests and told her the station intended to advertise her position even though she had not resigned.
Kerkhove said she was summoned to an early-morning meeting on June 8, informed it would be her last day, pressured to say she was resigning and escorted from the building by HR.
By the time she reached her car, she said, her email had been deactivated and her Facebook page had been deleted.
Kerkhove credited Walker with supporting her during the dispute.
“Jesse Walker, WTWO has been my rock in this all,” she wrote in her initial farewell post.
“He has fought for me time and time again. I was only here a year but made a friend and mentor for a lifetime.”
Walker publicly defended Kerkhove the day after her departure, writing that he had seen something similar only once before in his 40-year career at WTWO and calling her “one of the best meteorologists I’ve had the pleasure of working with.”
He also wrote that management’s handling of Kerkhove’s departure “has made my decision for my future pretty clear now,” adding that he had planned to remain at WTWO because he considered Kerkhove “such a great weather partner.”
More recently, Walker posted photographs of himself and Kerkhove together during a river excursion, writing that it was her first river trip.
Nexstar claims it did not fire Kerkhove, while she has said she was terminated.
The Post has sought comment from Kerkhove, Walker and WTWO.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
