EXCLUSIVE: Former Fox News host Courtney Friel claims staff joked that Roger Ailes suffered from 'DOMS - Dirty Old Man Syndrome and made her twirl when she came to his office'

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Former Fox News reporter Courtney Friel has revealed that staff at the network joked that Roger Ailes suffered from DOMS - Dirty Old Man Syndrome. 

Friel, 39, said that staffers used the acronym to try and laugh off inappropriate advances by the late former head of the TV network.

DOMS also stood for Dirty Old Man Symptoms whenever he would try and touch one of them or sexually harass them.

In her new book, Tonight At 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News, Friel reveals that Ailes had a huge lock on the door to his office and whenever she was asked to see him he insisted that she do a twirl.

Former Fox News reporter Courtney Friel has revealed that staff at the network joked that Roger Ailes suffered from DOMS - Dirty Old Man Syndrome

In her new book, Tonight At 10: Kicking Booze and Breaking News, Friel reveals that Ailes had a huge lock on the door to his office and whenever she was asked to see him he insisted that she do a twirl

Friel writes in the memoir, to be published on Tuesday, that if she was sitting on the Fox & Friends couch with a laptop on her legs Ailes told her to shut it so he could leer at her thighs.

Friel worked for Fox for six years before moving to Los Angeles where she joined local TV station KTLA as an anchor, reporter and host of her own podcast.

Her book is released around the same time as Bombshell, the film about Ailes’ sexual harassment of Fox women which stars Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie.

Their accounts are based on those of Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson - who won a $20m settlement against Fox.

In her lawsuit Carlson described a culture of harassment in which Ailes once told her: ‘I think you and I should have had a sexual relationship a long time ago, and then you’d be good and better and I’d be good and better.'

In her book Friel, 39, writes: ‘I too dealt with sexual harassment from the head of Fox News, though not to the extent some of my other colleagues did.

‘When I would have meetings with Roger in his office (which had security monitors and a huge lock on the door), he would ask me to twirl for him.

‘He’d always tell me I was “the hottest one at Fox,” and would compliment my legs. We weren’t allowed to wear pants, and if I was anchoring Fox & Friends on the curvy couch with the laptop screen blocking the view of my legs, Roger would call the control room and have the director tell me to shut it.

‘The comments and twirling made me feel uncomfortable, but at the time, I would deflect my feelings with humor, saying: “Oh, Roger just has DOMS.” 

'DOMS was a term I made up that stood for either Dirty Old Man Syndrome or Dirty Old Man Symptoms. I’m convinced all men have one or the other.'

Fox News chairman Roger Ailes  is seen walking with his wife Elizabeth Tilson as they leave the News Corp building in July 2016. He died the following year 

Friel was sometimes a fill-in host on the morning show Fox & Friends. Pictured: Friel, left, with her then-husband, undated

A Fox News spokesperson pointed DailyMail.com to a previous statement from 2016 indicating that the network does not impose an edict on women banning certain articles of clothing. 

In years past, some of the most prominent female Fox News hosts did occasionally wear pants on air, including Greta Van Susteren, Maria Bartiromo and Megyn Kelly. 

Friel also dishes about interviewing celebrities like Angelina Jolie, Ryan Gosling and Taylor Swift and says her favorites were Dolly Parton and Bryan Cranston.

But they were not all fun. Friel writes: ‘The worst interviews were Britney Spears, who could barely get out any words, and Hank Williams Jr.

‘The latter was wasted during a live interview and blew cigar smoke into my face while I was eight-and-a-half months pregnant. Then he hawked a loogie that landed on my purse and walked away mid-sentence.'

In an extract of the book already made public Friel claimed that Donald Trump once propositioned her by saying she should ‘come up to my office so we can kiss’.

Much of Friel’s book is about her struggle with alcohol and drug abuse during 15 years of partying before her journey through self discovery to achieve balance in her life

She reminded him they were both married and quickly ended their phone call.

Friel said that after this it ‘infuriated’ her when Trump denied allegations of sexual misconduct because she ‘totally believed’ his accusers.

Much of Friel’s book is about her struggle with alcohol and drug abuse during 15 years of partying before her journey through self discovery to achieve balance in her life.

Among the highlights of her wild days were bribing a Mexican Federale with $200 to let them get away with doing lines of cocaine in broad daylight.

Another time she blacked out and woke up in an old boyfriend’s hallway with no clothes on, his cat on her head and his father looking down at her disapprovingly.

Friel declined to comment further about her time at Fox when approached by DailyMail.com but said in a statement she wanted others to learn from her struggles.

Friel said: ‘Writing a book like this is somewhat of an emotional rollercoaster but also therapeutic.

‘I think what kept me going was knowing there are other people who could benefit from my experiences.

‘It was important to me to be completely transparent and honest; I wanted to show the good, the bad and the ugly. If just one person is inspired to get sober, the whole thing will have been worth it.'

Friel's book is released around the same time as Bombshell, the film about Ailes’ sexual harassment of Fox women which stars Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, and Margot Robbie

Charlize Theron stars as former Fox anchor Megyn Kelly in the upcoming movie Bombshell