Kathy Bates Was ‘in Tears’ Fitting into Armani Gown for 2024 Emmys After 100-Lb. Weight Loss: ‘Felt Great’ (Exclusive)

Kathy Bates had an emotional experience prepping for the 2024 Emmys on Sept. 15.

After losing 100 pounds over the past seven years, the actress, 76, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue, on newsstands Friday, she “was able to go” to Giorgio Armani for the first time “in quite a while” to find a dress for the evening.

While trying on dresses, Bates says she and her friend who had joined her for the fitting “were in tears because everything I came out in just looked exquisite.”

Ultimately, Bates landed on a deep purple gown with black beading. When the big night rolled around, “the pictures on the red carpet were so different from any pictures I’d ever had taken on a red carpet,” she says.

“I just felt so relaxed and ready,” she continues. “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.”

While on the red carpet, Bates also got to meet Shōgun star Anna Sawai, who teared up as Bates complimented her work.

“I was astounded that she got so emotional or that she even knew my work,” Bates says. “She was so exquisite in [Shōgun]. To meet her was just a treat for me.”

Bates — who currently stars in the buzzy CBS Matlock reboot — was first inspired to get serious about her health when she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes around 2017.

“It scared me straight,” she says.

The first change Bates made to her lifestyle was taking a piece of advice her niece had given her about listening to her body.

“When we’re full, we experience an involuntary sigh,” she explains. “I just pushed the plate away.”

She also changed her diet — “I used to eat terribly: burgers and Cokes and pizza,” she admits — and stopped eating after 8 p.m.

Through her lifestyle and diet changes, Bates was able to lose 80 pounds. She lost another 20 pounds on Ozempic.

“There’s been a lot of talk that I just was able to do this because of Ozempic,” Bates says. “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.”

Bates says her next challenge is figuring out a workout routine now that she’s wrapped the first season of Matlock.

“That’s going to be my next thing that I’m worried about because I won’t be on set running back and forth,” she says. “I have a treadmill here at the house, and I might try Pilates. People always ask, ‘Don’t you want a trainer?’ No, I really don’t. I don’t want anybody over my shoulder. It’s just very important to me to keep this going. I don’t want to slip.”

Her weight loss, she says, “coincided beautifully” with the timing of Matlock.

“Physically, I’m capable of doing this show,” she says. “I don’t have to sit down. I can stand up all day long and walk and move and breathe and do so many things that I couldn’t before.”

While Bates made headlines recently for saying Matlock would be her “last dance” after a five-decade career, she clarifies that she isn’t ready to step away from the industry just yet.

“I think people got confused and thought I was going to retire,” she says. “What I meant was, how can it get any better? I would love for this to keep going.”