Alex Kerkhove said WTWO told her in June that it did not see a future for her at the station, then escorted her from the building on June 8. Her account now sits beside claims from anonymous station employees that she and Jesse Walker were unusually close before and after she joined WTWO.
Walker was 60, and the employees told FTVLive that he took an unusually keen interest in Kerkhove before she was hired. They said the two chatted regularly, then later became obsessed with each other, a description that turned a routine personnel move into a workplace question with a public trail.
WTWO in June
Kerkhove said she posted on Facebook in June that she had been told it was her last day at WTWO. She said management told her it did not see a future for her at the station, then later pressed her to say she was resigning. Kerkhove said she was escorted out by HR after an early-morning meeting on June 8.
She also said the station deleted her professional Facebook account. Kerkhove said managers asked what they could do to persuade her to stay and requested that she put her concerns in writing, but she said the station rejected all of her requests. She said the station intended to advertise her position even though she had not resigned.
Kerkhove and Walker
Anonymous employees described Kerkhove and Walker as attached at the hip. One said she was only doing half of her job at channel 2. Another said that when she was not doing weather, she was attached to Jesse at the hip. A separate source said she 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.
Kerkhove later said managers told her she could speak with Walker for only 15 to 20 minutes while they were working because they watch the security camera. She also said she was barred from posting on WTWO’s Facebook page about events or festivals she attended on her days off with station employees. Kerkhove said she was moved away from on-air weather duties shortly after she was hired and limited to four hours of work during a severe-weather outbreak despite volunteering to help.
Facebook in June
FTVLive said it had no clue about the relationship between Kerkhove and Walker, even as station employees described the bond as very creepy. The story has drawn attention because it combines a firing, a public account from Kerkhove, and allegations from people inside the station who say the relationship crossed normal workplace lines.
The clearest next step is outside the public record: the station has already said it intended to advertise Kerkhove’s position, while the specific reason WTWO management used for ending her job has not been laid out in the material available here. For now, the dispute turns on whether her removal was a routine personnel decision or part of a broader workplace problem that management has not fully explained.
