Jesse Walker

Introduction

Jesse Walker was the chief meteorologist at WTWO, the Nexstar-owned NBC affiliate in Terre Haute, Indiana, for more than four decades. In September 2026 he announced he would leave the station on October 2 to launch his own weather company with Alex Kerkhove, a much younger former WTWO meteorologist whose departure months earlier had already drawn scrutiny to their unusually close bond, which anonymous station insiders described to the industry newsletter FTVLive as “creepy” and “obsessed.” Instead of letting him work to his announced farewell date, the station told Walker he had already worked his final day and denied him the chance to say goodbye on air.

Background Information

Walker spent over 40 years at WTWO, rising to chief meteorologist and becoming a fixture of Wabash Valley local television through decades of school visits, severe-weather coverage and community events. Alex Kerkhove, a recent Purdue University graduate roughly 40 years his junior, joined the station as weekend meteorologist and reporter in 2025 and has said she chose WTWO specifically to learn from Walker. According to FTVLive, anonymous insiders claimed Walker had taken a “deep interest” in Kerkhove before she was hired and that the two “chatted regularly” before she joined.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Allegations. The claims in this section are allegations from anonymous WTWO station insiders speaking to the industry newsletter FTVLive, which reported their characterizations. They were never admitted by Jesse Walker, never criminally charged, and never adjudicated in court. Walker has not been accused of any crime; he and Kerkhove describe their relationship as a mentorship and friendship, and Nexstar says Walker asked to be released from his contract rather than being terminated.

The turmoil began with Kerkhove’s exit. She said she was summoned to an early-morning meeting on June 8, 2026, told it was her last day, pressured to call it a resignation and escorted from the building by HR; by the time she reached her car, she said, her email had been deactivated and the station had deleted her professional Facebook page. Nexstar has maintained that WTWO did not fire her and repeatedly asked her to return — she chose not to. Kerkhove alleged that management had tried to keep the two apart, claiming she was told she could speak with Walker for only 15 to 20 minutes during work because “they watch the security camera,” and that she was moved off on-air weather duties and limited to four hours during a severe-weather outbreak.

After her departure, anonymous insiders told FTVLive that the pair had become “obsessed with each other” — that Kerkhove was “attached to Jesse at the hip” even after her shift ended, came in on days off, went to dinner with Walker and accompanied him on outside shoots. One insider gave the newsletter the line that spread: “I have no idea if these two were romantically involved, but he’s like 40 years older than her. It was very creepy.” Another flagged a painting Kerkhove gave Walker five months after meeting him, questioning whether such a gift fit a mentor-protégée relationship. FTVLive itself stressed it had “no clue about the relationship between Kerkhove and Walker,” reporting only that insiders viewed the bond as something other than the professional relationship they expected. Walker publicly defended Kerkhove the day after she left, calling her “one of the best meteorologist I’ve had the pleasure of working with” in four decades, and wrote that management’s handling “has made my decision for my future pretty clear now.”

In September, Walker announced he would leave WTWO on October 2 and start his own weather company, with Kerkhove joining the venture. Before that date arrived, the station accelerated his exit: according to FTVLive, Walker was told he had already worked his final day and was denied an on-air farewell.

Public Reaction and Consequences

Kerkhove responded with a Facebook post celebrating her mentor: “Jesse Walker! I am sorry that the station treated someone that has dedicated his entire career to serving a community like they did,” writing that “Today they walked you out the door and didn’t let you say goodbye,” and calling him her “station dad.” Nexstar gave The Post a statement disputing the “ouster” framing: “Several weeks ago, Jesse Walker asked to be released from his contract with WTWO, and WTWO decided to honor Jesse’s request,” adding that the station celebrated his achievements and aired an on-air video tribute on September 30. The New York Post’s coverage — first of the “creepy” insider claims in July, then of the abrupt exit in October — carried the story well beyond the Terre Haute market.

Current Status

Walker’s WTWO career is over, ended weeks ahead of the date he had announced and without the on-air goodbye a 40-year career might have expected. He and Kerkhove are proceeding with their planned weather company. No lawsuit, charge or regulatory action exists in connection with the episode; the dispute is a personnel conflict between Walker, Kerkhove and Nexstar, with the “creepy relationship” characterizations remaining anonymous, unproven claims that both people at their center reject as a misreading of a mentorship.

Impact on Their Career/Life

The exit closed Walker’s four-decade run at WTWO on the station’s terms rather than his own, cost him the farewell to viewers that had defined local-news departures, and tied his long public legacy to a tabloid-covered workplace scandal he insists was only mentorship. His next act — the independent weather venture with Kerkhove — keeps the partnership that started the controversy at the center of his professional life.

Sources

• New York Post, “Veteran meteorologist who had ‘creepy’ relationship with much younger colleague is abruptly fired,” October 5, 2026 — source
• New York Post, “Inside fired meteorologist’s ‘very creepy bond’ with mentor, 60, as co-workers claim they were ‘obsessed with each other’,” July 17, 2026 — source
• FTVLive, “Like No One Saw this One Coming,” October 1, 2026 — source
• FTVLive, “The Saga Continues in Terre Haute,” September 9, 2026 — source