Johnny ‘Two Guns’ Walker wants to help at-risk youth after fighting back from the dead
With his new wife by his side, ex-Bandidos enforcer Johnny “Two Guns” Walker says he wants to help “at-risk” youths get their lives back on track – and he has some advice for Premier Jacinta Allan on how to tackle the state’s crime crisis.
Months after fighting back from his death bed, high-profile ex-Bandidos enforcer Johnny “Two Guns” Walker says he wants to help “at-risk” youths get their lives back on track.
Speaking for the first time alongside new wife Jess, Walker insists he is “finished” with bikie life and has even offered Premier Jacinta Allan advice on how to combat the crime crisis.
The couple have also revealed how Jess was told by paramedics to take his gold chain and “say goodbye” when a violent seizure put him in a coma for 14 hours in April.
Boxer, ex-Bandidos sergeant-at-arms and former CFMEU delegate Walker believes he’s been given a “second chance” at life after surviving the seizure.
“It’s definitely a second chance. No more taking risks. I want to be the best husband I can and with Jess by my side, I want to get into helping the youth,” he says.
Walker was parachuted into the CFMEU after serving eight years in prison for manslaughter, then exiled from the union after it was put into administration amid concerns about the infiltration of its ranks by outlaw bikies and organised crime figures
But he has hit out at his detractors, saying: “I have critics. But the reason people get their nose out of joint is because their life hasn’t been interesting enough to be asked to do interviews.
“I was a professional athlete that wound up at a bikie club. I’ve never been caught with guns. I’ve never been caught robbing a bank. I’ve been misunderstood all my life.”
The seizure
It was around 5am on a Tuesday, and Walker was feeling awful.
The burly ex-Bandido, at 43, had recently begun training for another professional fight.
Walker doesn’t fear much.
He’s survived bruising boxing bouts and cradled his good mate Toby Mitchell after he was gunned down in an assassination attempt.
But on April 8, Walker was scared.
In a moment, he lost consciousness and collapsed on his bathroom floor.
The cruiserweight was cut in the fall and blood spilt out over the tiles.
“I’d been sparring over the weekend. On the Monday we took the kids to Werribee Zoo. After that, I remember nothing at all,” Walker says.
His wife Jess remembers everything, too well.
“I was just in bed, laying there, and I woke up to a big bang,” Jess shudders.
“I walked into the most frightening experience of my life. There was blood everywhere. John was bleeding through his mouth because he’d bitten through his lip. He was having a fit.
“There was a lot of noise and commotion. Johnny was jammed in between the wall and the toilet, drenched in sweat, and completely seizing.
“I picked up the phone and called one of John’s best mates, and he came round immediately.”
The mate was former AFL player Billy Nicholls, who helped Jess attend to Walker while the ambulance raced to their home.
“The paramedics got there fairly quickly. Six minutes. But it felt like forever. It felt like an eternity. Everything just stopped,” Jess recounts.
As Walker was strapped in for the journey to Geelong Hospital intensive care unit, Jess was told to prepare for the worst.
“In the driveway a paramedic said that they were going to take it really slow to hospital. The paramedic handed me John’s gold chain and said to say goodbye to him. It was very raw. I tried to hold it together for the kids,” she says.
For 14 hours, Jess held a bedside vigil.
“The hospital staff said that I should keep talking to him,” she says.
“I was talking to John in his coma and he had a tear running down his face.”
While sedated, Walker made a number or involuntarily movements.
“His arms started to move and he started to cough because he had the tube in his mouth. I thought he was choking,” she says.
“It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t very nice to watch the person you love go through that.”
It’s now been seven months since the near-fatal fit and Walker has made a strong recovery.
But he’s still awaiting a medical clearance to return to construction work.
The couple angrily reject rumours his seizure was drug-related.
“There was no drugs in my system. There was no aneurysm. All my medical reports are there,” Walker states without a smile.
“That’s complete dogs***,” Jess adds.
The couple were already engaged at the time of the emergency and the medical miracle inspired them to make things official.
“That’s when we thought, let’s get married,” Walker reveals.
“We didn’t want to waste any more time. But he’s been told not to do that to me again,” Jess says.
How Toby Mitchell helped him through his big day
Walker almost did not get through his recent wedding last month by Corio Bay.
“The wedding day couldn’t have been more perfect than it was. It was better than I thought it could ever be,” he recalls.
Walker was flanked by his best man, 19-year-old son Tyler, and former Mongols president Toby Mitchell.
“We had it down in Geelong on the foreshore, at a place called Sailors’ Rest. We had 80 guests. Close family and close friends,” Walker explains.
“We were going to do a big wedding but if you have 200 people there about 150 of them just come for the drinks” he says with a wink.
Walker was supercharged after picking up a sports car to bring him to the venue.
“He was very happy going to pick up the car in the morning. He was rapt. He came past the make-up place like he was in Formula 1 drag race,” Jess says.
But it could have been a disaster if Mitchell had not been on hand to calm him down before the ceremony, he admits.
“I was more nervous for the wedding than I was for my world title fight,” Walker recalls.
“Toby helped me with four vodkas as I walked through the door. The four vodkas got me back on level ground. Thanks Toby for that!”
Walker says that his circle of friends has become tighter than ever in recent years, revealing he is extremely close to Mitchell.
“It’s all about family now and the close friends that I want around,” he shares.
When Mitchell was shot outside the Bandidos Brunswick Clubhouse in 2011, it was Walker who rushed to his side.
“I just stick around people that I want to be around,” he says.
Walker’s wife Jess reveals the couple found love thanks to Victoria’s Big Build program.
Jess was working as a traffic controller on a Metro Tunnel site in the CBD,
Walker, a health and safety rep with the CFMEU, used to check in often to make sure that Jess was getting enough shifts, they say.
A typical night Saturday night for the couple now involves pizza at home in Melbourne’s west where they are raising Jess’s two children, and an episode of the Netflix children’s cartoon K-Pop Demon Hunters.
“Johnny’s not a fan of the K-Pop Demon Hunters,” Jess says.
“I reckon they’ve got more violent tendencies then me,” Walker adds.
“I’ve seen a few of their videos.”
As well as the wedding, the couple also decided to confirm their commitment in ink, with matching forearm tattoos depicting likenesses of American outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.
They are hoping for a honeymoon in 2026, Walker says, but he needs to apply for a passport.
John Setka and the CFMEU
Walker became a high-profile person in 2024 as authorities sharpened their focus on “underworld infiltration” in the CFMEU.
He had spent eight years in jail after being convicted of manslaughter over the death of stranger Michael Strike in a brawl at the Bandidos Brunswick Clubhouse in 2014.
Soon after leaving jail in 2022, Walker was appointed as a CFMEU health and safety delegate on Victoria’s Big Build projects.
But amid scrutiny into the union, Walker found himself as one of the key faces of the scandal, with suggestions that his bikie connections had got him his job.
“That was bulls***,” Walker asserts.
“The job I held at the CFMEU was all based on the tickets that I had. The union wouldn’t put me on because of my criminal status. I was always put on because of my experience around a worksite.”
After Walker was removed from his position, he blasted union’s leadership for not sticking by him, even dubbing former boss John Setka a “try-hard”.
But Walker has now revealed the pair are close again, with Setka having reached out seeking a ceasefire shortly after the outburst.
“I class John as a good mate now,” Walker says.
“The try-hard bit came out of anger and I said to him I’d eat my words.”
Walker and Setka broke bread at a cafe in Melbourne’s inner-west.
“He had things he had to say. I had things I had to say. We chatted like men and he’s a man of his word,” Walker states.
“I was the bigger man, and I said, ‘I was wrong’ with the way I put the blame on him.
“What John’s done with the union is better than what anybody else has done before him or after him,” Walker argues.
“When I lost my gig, I think that it was because of the blokes who were left running the union after John. They buried me because it was an easy name to bury to save themselves.”
Helping combat the crime crisis
Walker admits it’s been difficult to find paid work due to the recent public attention.
“I was put in a bad financial position with losing my job,” he says.
And he’s been watching Victoria’s youth crime crisis and says he wants to work within mentoring programs with at-risk youths.
“The government is chasing their tail a bit. We need to stop looking down on these kids and start helping them,” he says.
“We need to make sure that these kids understand the consequences. We need to get the knowledge into them that’s it’s not the way to go. Prison is no good for no one.”
Walker also has plans to open his own boxing gym and is considering a move to regional Victoria.
“I won’t do things by halves. I want to be the best husband, the best stepfather to Jess’ kids and the best dad I can be to Tyler,” he says.
He insists his wild side has been holstered and he plans to stay out of trouble.
“I get what the general public think: once you go down that road you don’t turn back,” he says.
“But I’ve been out (of jail) since 2022. I haven’t been charged with anything. I mean, I’ve had a few speeding fines. I’m not too good with the speed camera,” he adds with a laugh.
His nickname
Part of Walker’s notoriety comes from his nickname “Two Guns”.
According to the man himself, the “Two Guns” tag predates his time as a Bandido.
“It’s a sporting nickname. It came from my boxing promoter, back in the day, when I was 17 or 18 years old,” Walker explains.
“It’s simply that I was knocking people out with my left and right hand. I had two guns.”
Boxing promoter Peter Maniatis confirms that it was him who loaded up “Two Guns” with the moniker.
“He just had so much punching power,” Maniatis says.
“I needed a way to market his awesome offensive prowess. To me, those two fists were lethal weapons.”
