Kathy Bates cried tears of joy when she realised just how much weight she had lost.

The 76-year-old actress has lost more than 100lbs over the course of the last seven years and after realising she was able to shop designer clothes again, she quickly became emotional when she tried on a Giorgio Armani number for the Emmy Awards.

She told People: "We [me and my friend] were in tears because everything I came out in just looked exquisite. The pictures on the red carpet were so different from any pictures I'd ever had taken on a red carpet.

"I just felt so relaxed and ready."

The 'Misery' actress felt "great" and was aware of just how good she looked in the designer dress as she reflected on the "lovely" night she had at the annual awards ceremony.

She said: "I knew I felt great, and I looked great. We had a wonderful little skit with Antony [Starr] and Giancarlo [Esposito]. It was a lovely night. That evening was really special."

The Oscar-winning star recently addressed rumours that she had turned to Ozempic - the brand name of the controversial weight loss drug Semiglutide - to slim down, but insisted that she only took the jab to tackle the last 20 lbs.

She said: "There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic.

“But I have to impress upon people out there that this was hard work for me, especially during the pandemic.

"It’s very hard to say you’ve had enough.”

The 'Matlock' star admitted being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2017 was a wake-up call to managing her weight and looking after her health.

She said: “I ate because I was afraid, and I ate because it was a FU to my self-esteem.

“[Diabetes] runs in my family, and I'd seen what my father had gone through. He had had a leg amputation. One of my sisters is dealing with it very seriously, and it terrified me. It scared me straight."

Kathy started with small changes, such as taking advice from her niece to listen to her body.

She said: "When we’re full, we experience an involuntary sigh. I just pushed the plate away.”