Fox News looks set to lose its biggest name, with The Wall Street Journal reporting that the network is preparing to cut ties with Bill O'Reilly following a string of sexual harassment claims.

O'Reilly has been at Fox News Channel for 21 years - almost since its inception - with the last few months having seen several female contributors come forward with allegations of inappropriate behaviour, including making sexual advances that made a female host fall over, phoning women up and seeming to masturbate with a vibrator and promising lucrative jobs opportunities before making sexual advances.

20th Century Fox declined to comment on the WSJ report.

A recent exposé in The New York Times revealed that the network and host had collectively paid $13 million in out-of-court settlements related to harassment claims.

O’Reilly’s attorney, Marc Kasowitz, claimed that the presenter has been the target of a “brutal campaign of character assassination that is unprecedented in post-McCarthyist America,” fueled by “far-left organizations bent on destroying O’Reilly for political and financial reasons.”

President Trump recently defended his friend.

"I think he shouldn't have settled; personally I think he shouldn't have settled," Trump told the NYT. "Because you should have taken it all the way. I don't think Bill did anything wrong.

”I think he's a person I know well — he is a good person.”

The host hasn't appeared on his The O'Reilly Factor show the last few days as he has been on a vacation he claims was planned long before the allegations.