Dan Stevens says he was 'fired up' when he took swipe at Boris Johnson

Dan Stevens has said he took aim at Boris Johnson on The One Show over “absolutely outrageous” behaviour.

The actor stunned the show’s hosts - and amused viewers – when he had a pop in the wake of the partygate scandal, calling the Prime Minister a “criminal”.

Stevens spoke out as he was discussing his new political series, Gaslit, which is about Watergate, and has now told GQ he was “fired up” at the time.

Read more: Dan Stevens stuns The One Show hosts with swipe at Boris Johnson

The star commented after The One Show host Alex Jones asked about Gaslit, saying: “Well, what you have got is a criminal for a leader who is wrapped in a messy war, embroiled in a stupid scandal and surrounded by ambitious idiots and really should resign.”

He went on: “Oh no, I’m sorry that’s the intro to Boris Johnson.”

Stevens has now told GQ it was "hard" to ignore the parallels.

He said: “It's like, well, actually, a scandal's a scandal, corruption in a political administration is universally relevant, and it doesn't matter what country you're in. There's already some, there's always somebody up to some shady s***."

"Absolutely outrageous," he went on. "And yeah, it got me quite fired up. I thought it was worth highlighting the extraordinary similarities."

Stevens went on to say he believes people need to be "held to account".

Read more: The One Show's Alex Jones admits anxiety as she returns from maternity leave

Gaslit focuses on the Watergate scandal and also stars Julia Roberts and Sean Penn.

Stevens plays John Dean, a former attorney who served as White House counsel for US President Richard Nixon.

Watch: Dan Stevens trolls Boris Johnson