Sylvester Stallone wanted to ''strangle'' Arnold Schwarzenegger every day at the height of their fame.

The 'Expendables 3' actor is now friends with his former rival but he admits they were so competitive with one another in the 1980s, they couldn't bear to be in the same room.

He said: ''Did you ever have someone you wanted to strangle every day? It got to the point where we stopped talking to each other and couldn't be in the same room.

''We came along at the same time, we started to pioneer this action thing -- although I was first -- and we were so competitive.''

And the 68-year-old actor claimed the former Governor of California made a cunning attempt to trash his career by starting a rumour he wanted a role in 'Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot', prompting Stallone to quickly sign up for the 1992 flop comedy, which was savaged by critics at the same time Schwarzenegger, 67, was winning praise for 'Terminator 2'.

He admitted during an event in Manchester, North West England, last week: ''I heard Arnold wanted to do that movie and after hearing that, I said I wanted to do it. He tricked me! He's always been clever.''