Nearly 20 years after his last Daytime Emmy win, Steve Burton returned to the stage to claim the Outstanding Supporting Actor trophy.

"It's amazing. You know, it's been since 1998 [when I won my first Emmy]. I don't remember that one, and I don't remember what happened out there [tonight]. Somebody has video of it. I was really nervous. They say your name, and you don't remember much else until you're kind of offstage," Burton said backstage. "Somebody posted the first win, and I talked so fast, I couldn't even understand myself! [Laughs] And it was probably the same out there. It was hard to plan a speech. I can memorize 50 pages a day, but I had to write my names down just so I didn't forget anybody."

While fans and voters were blown away by Burton's emotional performance of a man who learned that the child he believed was his was, in fact, not his, Burton revealed backstage that the past few years have been difficult for him.

"My dad passed away almost two years ago, so it was a tough time for me," Burton revealed. "[He was] a huge supporter. Without his sacrifice, I wouldn't be standing up here."

Several hours earlier, Burton had walked the Red Carpet with his on-screen dad, Doug Davidson (Paul Williams).

"Doug is a great guy. He's one of my best friends. And I needed a date," Burton explained with a chuckle. "No, I'm kidding! He's a huge supporter of mine, and we're friends. You know, I've been off the show for five months, and we text and talk a couple of times a week. It's awesome that he was here. He was here for me tonight -- he didn't really want to come -- but he came for me, and I appreciate it."

While this is Burton's second win, this will be his only fully intact Emmy.

"Well, we were moving to Nashville, and my wife was being super nice and went to storage to get the Emmy and said, 'We need to take it to Nashville.' So it came out of storage, boxed it up, got to Nashville, and [it was] broken in half. [Laughs] The ball and the wings were off. But it's okay. This is great."

It's not uncommon for a performer to win an Emmy after he or she has left their respective show. In fact, just last year, The Young and the Restless' Jessica Collins won after exiting the show -- and that was the case again this year as Kate Mansi won for her work on Days of our Lives, a show she left last year after five years with the NBC soap. While many thought that Mansi was a frontrunner in the category -- including one of her former costars -- Mansi wasn't totally convinced.

"I was just so happy to come back and see all my friends again. But this is great. Mary Beth Evans [Kayla Johnson], God bless her, has been saying for the last two years, 'Better write that speech,' and I was like, 'Okay, Mary Beth.' While she was like racking them up, obviously. [Laughs] But I was sitting there, and Mary Beth was to my left, and I was watching these incredible reels of these amazing actresses and thinking, 'There's no way!' I mean, I was so moved by Stacy's [Haiduk, Patty Williams, The Young and the Restless] work, and everybody. I just didn't think it would happen, but Mary Beth was right. And I really felt the love from everybody. It was really nice," Mansi said backstage after accepting her award.

In her reel, Mansi had scenes with a real-life baby and she confesses that it added a level of challenge that she had not anticipated.

"It's so crazy. My sister actually just had identical twin boys in November, and I wish I would have had that experience then. But working with them was the most, it was such a unique experience, because whatever you have planned as an actor, and I'm sure a lot of moms are like, 'Yeah, duh,' but whatever you have planned as an actor, you're looking at this child that doesn't care at all about what you're doing, and it's like this conversation you're having with them, and you have to be so present and spontaneous and connected. And I loved it. It brought a whole new purpose for me."

Mansi is the first DAYS actress to win in this category since Tamara Braun won in 2009.