Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney says that he would have taken the advice of Hillary Clinton and accepted the secretary of state position if President Donald Trump offered it to him, it was reported on Friday.

The former Massachusetts governor was a candidate for the job even though he was a vocal critic of Trump during the Republican primary.

Trump considered Romney for the position, but ultimately decided to give the nod to former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson.

Speaking to a crowd who gathered at a political event in Utah on Friday, Romney said that he conferred with Clinton as well as other secretaries of state who all but begged him to take the job during the transition period immediately following Trump's election victory on November 9.

His remarks were reported by CNN.

Former President Bill Clinton (far left), former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton (second from left), former GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney (second from right) and his wife Ann Romney talk in Clear Lake, Iowa, in this July 4, 2007, file photo

Romney says Hillary Clinton urged him to accept the position of secretary of state in the Trump administration if then-President-elect Donald Trump offered it to him. Trump and Romney are seen above after their meeting in Bedminster Township, New Jersey, on November 19, 2016

Clinton, of course, was most recently the Democratic presidential nominee who lost to Trump in the general election.

'I spoke with virtually all the former secretaries of state,' Romney told attendees who gathered at his E2 Summit, a Republican confab made up of Romney allies.

'I spoke with Secretary Clinton, and in each case, each of them said: "Please, please take that job, if it's offered to you. We would very much like to see you serve in that capacity."'

Romney said he was 'shocked' when then-Vice President-elect Mike Pence called him while he was golfing in Hawaii and asked if he would consider being Trump's secretary of state.

'I would have accepted the job had he asked me to do it,' Romney said.

To everyone's surprise, Trump considered Romney for the position, but ultimately decided to give the nod to former ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson (seen left with Trump during last month's visit to Saudi Arabia)

A number of top Trump aides were adamantly opposed to Romney's nomination because of his earlier criticism of the candidate.

Romney last year said Trump was a 'fraud' and a 'phony' whose behavior was 'degrading' to women.

Trump also had harsh words for the former Massachusetts governor, calling him a 'stiff' and a 'catastrophe' who 'choked like a dog' by losing to Barack Obama in 2012.

Nevertheless, Romney credits Trump for being willing to consider him for his cabinet despite the different approaches.

'I probably was not the right person to have the job - in part because of how far apart we were,' Romney said on Friday.

Romney said he was pleasantly surprised by Trump's administration during its first five months in office. The two men are seen dining in New York City on November 29, 2016

'We saw things very differently on the foreign policy front,' Romney said.

'I thought that that kind of openness was very encouraging and if he was willing to have me in that position, then I would be anxious to serve.'

Romney said he was pleasantly surprised by Trump's administration during its first five months in office.

He said that he agrees with Trump's policies between 70 and 80 per cent of the time.

'We're not as far apart as I feared early on,' he said.