Jon Hamm paid tribute to ex-girlfriend as he picked up Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

He said: "It's incredible and impossible for me personally to be standing here so I want to thank the people to whom I owe an incredible debt.

"Cora and Jen, thank you all very much, I would not be standing here without you."

Jon picked up the award for the first time, despite being nominated every year since the show started in 2007 and joked he was convinced his friend Tina Fey - who presented him with the trophy - had played a trick on him.

He said: "There's been a terrible mistake, clearly."

And speaking afterwards, he quipped: "I think it's all a huge joke that somehow Tina's played on me.

"I told [Tina] on stage, I said, 'I'm glad that you read my name, whatever it says on there.' "

And the actor was still in disbelief about winning the prize ahead of fellow nominees Bob Odenkirk, Kevin Spacey, Liev Schreiber, Jeff Daniels and Kyle Chandler once he left the stage.

He told 'Access Hollywood': "Being surrounded by the calibre of talent that I have been in my category for so long, not to mention the rest of the categories and television in general, [it] has been so, really, humbling. I am in disbelief."

Meanwhile, Jon's former 'Mad Men' co-stars were thrilled by his triumph.

January Jones - who played his on-screen first wife Betty - said: "That was the thing I was most hoping for.

"He not only represents all of us but the body of work as a whole. It's so deserved and I'm so proud of him."

And Kiernan Shipka, who portrayed daughter Sally Draper, told People magazine: "I actually had snacks in my hands and had to hand them to my mom because I knew I'd have to jump up in a second. I knew! I'm just so proud of him."