He may have left NBC’s “Days of our Lives” in the early portion of 2018 after portraying Theo Carver on the daytime drama series for just three years, but it was enough time for Kyler Pettis to win the coveted Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series during “The 46th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards.”

In his acceptance speech, Pettis said, “First off, I’d like to thank ‘DAYS’ for giving me a chance. If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t be up here tonight.” Thanking his family, Pettis also said, “I have to thank the community I was able to represent. Theo Carver was a high-functioning autistic young man and a great one at that, so thank you. I want to dedicate this to the growing conversation and awareness of mental health, to our planet [and] to our dreams. Love is love. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to show myself. I have so much more to give and I look forward to the days to do that.”

The award was presented by game show host John Michael Higgins (“America Says”).

Pettis beat out the likes of Lucas Adams (Tripp Dalton, “Days of our Lives”), William Lipton (Cameron Webber, “General Hospital”), Garren Stitt (Oscar Nero, General Hospital”) and Zach Tinker (Fenmore Baldwin, “The Young and the Restless”).

In response to Pettis winning, Adams said, “Congratulations Kyler Pettis for your Daytime Emmy Award! So well deserved! Love you, my man! Congrats!

You can watch the actor’s win and speech in its entirety by playing the clip below (starts around the 9:30 mark).