Inside fired meteorologists very creepy bond with mentor, 60, as co-workers claim they were obsessed with each other

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 departu...