Hollywood star Robert De Niro explains why he appeared in ad for Warburtons

Robert De Niro has revealed why he took part in an advertising campaign for British baking company Warburtons, saying that he "thought it was funny".

The Hollywood star followed in the footsteps of Sylvester Stallone, who starred in an advert for the breadmaker in 2015, by appearing alongside company chairman Jonathan Warburton in a campaign earlier this year.

De Niro, 76, told British GQ: "Look, they asked me to do it and I met the guy, Warburton, and I thought it was funny.

"I saw Stallone do it and I thought at least he has a sense of humour about it and about himself. And I thought I can look at it two ways.

"Should I think I should never have done that? I'm too good for that or something? And I said, f*** it, I'll do it. Why not?"

The star of The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull added: "Don't hold it against me."

In the advert, set in Bolton, two-time Oscar winner De Niro played an amalgam of his gangster film characters as he and his accomplices attempted to thwart Warburtons' bagel sales in favour of their New York products.

All of the action in the advert is unknown to the oblivious Warburton, who thinks De Niro is delivering a pitch for a new film.

De Niro, who next appears in Martin Scorsese's new gangster film The Irishman alongside Al Pacino and Joe Pesci, also took aim at Donald Trump.

He told the magazine: "He's beyond a horrible person. I went on television the day after he was elected and I said, 'I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt'.

"But he's worse than we ever thought he would be. He's an idiot. He's a fool. He's a buffoon. He's silly. He's tacky. He's dangerous.

"That stupid show The Apprentice, people bought it. They buy into it... They created a monster."

The December issue of British GQ is available via digital download and newsstands on Friday November 1.