Mr. Olympia MC Bob Cicherillo believes the sport has become softer since his days on stage. On March 11, 2025, he discussed the drama with Nick Walker and denied being the IFBB Pro League’s athlete’s representative.
In a previous Voice of Bodybuilding podcast, Cicherillo, joined by Shawn Ray, opened up on the bodybuilding future of Nick Walker. Cicherillo commented that Walker had an ‘H’ shape to his physique and predicted that he would never win the coveted Mr. Olympia title.
Walker found the statement disrespectful and thought it lacked constructive feedback. Walker is planning to make his return at the 2025 Pittsburgh Pro in May, and with a victory, believes ‘at his best’ he could secure a top-three position at the next Mr. Olympia. Cicherillo’s comments have caused an uproar online, with many athletes and fans pointing out that the athlete’s rep shouldn’t talk negatively about IFBB Pros.
Bob Cicherillo Addresses Nick Walker Controversy, Says He’s No Longer the Athlete’s Rep
In a recent YouTube video, Cicherillo discussed the ‘heat’ he’s taken since making those comments about Walker.
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“I’m taking a lot of heat this week. I made some comments out there, we were both talking about Nick Walker. He made some comments. I made some comments. Listen, it’s all in the interest of fun to me and all that. We don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. We know the athletes today are a little more sensitive than they were years ago,” he shared.
His message to Walker and other IFBB Pros? If you can’t take constructive criticism, get out of the sport.
“You got to take constructive criticism as Pro. If you can’t take constructive criticism, especially from people who are considered experts, then get out of the sport.”
“Nick is a big boy. He can take care of himself. He threw out some stuff. I threw out some stuff. That said, listen, Nick, we’ve talked about this before. Neither one of us have any bone to pick with you personally. It’s never a personal thing.”
Although Bob Cicherillo claims he was once the athlete’s rep, he highlighted that it wasn’t a paid or an official position. Moving forward, he said he’s no longer the athlete’s rep.
“Yes. I have worked in that capacity. But like I said, this is not a paying position everybody. This is not even an official position. Stop already with the nonsense that I can’t have an opinion because I’m the athletes rep. Consider from this point forward, there is no athletes rep.”
He reiterated that he doesn’t want to be referred to as an athlete’s rep anymore and is fed up with hearing about it.
“I’ll say this officially and for the last time on this subject: don’t write me. Don’t reach out to me. Don’t ask me. Don’t refer to me anymore as the athletes rep. It’s an honorary position, just as I explained in that clip we just showed, at best. It’s not an official position.”
“I don’t want to hear it anymore. I’m sick of it.”
Constructive criticism in the sport is always welcome, but many fans believe Cicherillo blurred those lines with his comments about Walker. Now that he’s distanced himself from the title of athlete’s representative, fans can likely expect more hot takes from him in the future.