As Nick Walker continues to look for excuses for his embarrassing outing at the 2025 Mr. Olympia, the overzealous Walker, now dubbed Nick Talker by critics, seems directionless. Word is he’s looking at the 2026 Arnold Classic as the show where he plans to change his luck. Others believe he may go for his 4th NY Pro title. Whatever the case may be, there’s a tremendous amount of doubt in The Mutant’s ability to turn things around. The level of doubt in him can only be compared to when he pulled out of his second consecutive Mr. Olympia in 2024. The problem with Walker is that he has a mouth that gets the best of him. He talks a big game, but in reality, he can’t back it up. When Bob Cicherillo said he’d be 8th, he was on the money. The fact is, as much as I disagree with the self-proclaimed Voice Of Bodybuilding, he hit the nail on the head. Both Brandon and Tonio should have placed ahead of Walker. Bob wasn’t wrong. Nick just got VERY lucky. He was essentially GIVEN a gift – he should have been 8th.
Nick was totally undeserving of the placing he received at the Olympia. That said, it’s not a Top 6 finish that Nick can really market himself with. He was off and everyone knew it. But who’s fault was it?
According to reports, Kyle Wilkes, Walker’s former coach, took full responsibility for Nick’s lackluster look at the 2025 Olympia. What’s interesting is that Wilkes is responsible for bringing the best Nick to the stage – ever – as well. Although Nick continues to amaze us all with how disconnected he is from reality, The Mutant has even said Pittsburgh wasn’t the best version of himself, possible.
The 2025 Pittsburgh Pro was the best Nick Walker we will ever see. That’s my position and I’m holding to it. Let’s see how it ages over time. But Pittsburgh aside, what’s to say Nick didn’t cheat on his diet for the O? What’s to say he followed Wilkes protocols to the letter? What’s to say that something outside of Nick’s control and/or outside of Wilkes’ control happened during the hours prior to prejudging? For Kyle to publicly fall on his sword for Walker is mighty big of him. So does Walker return the favor? Does he at least end the coach-client relationship like a gentleman? I mean for a guy that has LOYALTY tattooed on his forearm, could we expect any less? Of course not.
Nick Walker is developing quite a reputation when in comes to working with coaches. He also made the news shortly after the Olympia for allegedly cursing out two fans. He quickly dismissed the accusations, claiming he would never curse out fans, much less with his mom next to him. His explanation seemed contrived and his believability was sus. For a guy who has blocked StrengthAddicts, MuscleDiscord, and refuses to interview with Ron Harris (one of the nicest guys in the industry), Walker’s insistence that he’s incapable of being rude to fans seemed hard to believe. The way he treated Wilkes further raises concerns. But if Walker burned Wilkes once before, why would Kyle work with him again? Why would anyone?
I can’t speak with any degree of certainty as to why Kyle thought it wise to give Nick another chance. Now, hopefully, he won’t make the same mistake again in the future. The coaching relationship should be purely business; however, when coaches and clients share a friendship, or maybe are in a relationship, or maybe are related, it doesn’t always end well. And sometimes coaches and/or clients put up with a lot more than what they would if the other person wasn’t a significant other, a family member, or a friend. I think Kyle probably saw red flags all around, but because he cared about Nick as a friend, he was able to hang in there. I mean the guy FELL ON HIS SWORD for Nick after the 2025 Olympia, and Nick still fired him. And Nick fired Kyle like you’d fire an enemy. It was public, it was cold, and it was highly unprofessional. There was no need for that and it speaks volumes about the guy kind of person Nick really is.
The Mutant should get his loyalty tattoo removed ASAP. He’s clueless as to what loyalty even means.
